The Protector
by inspiredbywho
Summary: Julien Mikaelson dedicated her entire existence to protecting her family. Though she had managed to save them from vampires, witches, and werewolves throughout the centuries, when her family is pitted against each other - brother fighting brother - how is she supposed to protect them from themselves? She had wanted them to be happy, but now she just wants them to survive. S2 / OC
1. The Reunion

**The Reunion**

* * *

Elijah hung limply against the door, what used to be a coat hanger protruding from his chest and keeping him pinned. He wasn't sure exactly how long he had been there, seeing as he had fallen unconscious at one point, but as he awaited feeling to return to his extremities he knew that one thing was for sure – the doppelganger was going to be just a tad bit harder to retrieve than he initially assumed.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

Elijah's ears perked up at the solitary sound breaking through the deafening silence. It was the unmistakable sound of approaching footsteps. And they were getting closer.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

Unwilling to enter a potential battle without even the ability to wiggle his toes, Elijah quickly set to work trying to force his body into overdrive. The tips of his fingers curled painfully slowly inwards, barely managing to graze his palms when the footsteps came to a pause.

Debris flew forward as the wall to Elijah's left was broken through, an accessorized fist peeking into his peripheral vision. The fist was soon joined by the rest of its body, though before Elijah could blink – which to be honest, was not so quickly in his current state – his visitor stood before him instead of beside him.

Elijah took in the fact that the woman before him wore a detailed grey dress that ended just before her knees with matching velvet pumps – not the ideal outfit for exploring the deep woods of North Dakota – before she had moved again. In an instant the makeshift stake had been removed from his chest, landing with a harsh thud against the wall opposite him. He began to slide down the door, unable to hold himself up as he was, but two gentle hands wrapped quickly around his shoulders to support him.

It was then that he realized exactly who had come to his aid. He would know that touch anywhere.

Further evidence supported his theory when he was guided carefully to the floor, the same kind hands closing around his chin to lift his gaze. It was a struggle to raise his eyes even the slightest, but the moment they met her piercing grey ones that always managed to hold the perfect mixture of aged wisdom and tender love.

His voice scraped against his throat as he fought to speak, his astonishment at seeing her here far surpassing whatever pain it caused him.

"Julien."

* * *

 _984 AD_

 _Determination settled on his features as it also pumped through his veins, glaring at his rival. Elijah had attempted to best his arch nemesis many times before, all ending with failure. Today would be different. Today he was more prepared. Today he would be victorious._

 _He had been so sure, at least, that this was how it would work out._

 _Imagine the poor seven-year-old's surprise when this encounter ended the same as all the others – with pain and embarrassment._

 _Elijah sat with his back against the tall boulder he had attempted to climb. Even with a running start, his little hands had been unable to grasp the crevices, his unskilled feet unable to carry him much higher than a few feet. The poor boy hadn't been ready to accept defeat so easily, however._

 _As he slid down the side of the boulder, Elijah had attempted to catch himself on a nearby tree branch. Of course he had vastly overestimated the strength of the newly sprouted branch, surprise flickering in his chest shortly before dread took over when it snapped between his fingers. The wood had splintered into his palm as he hit the ground, blood dripping between his clenched fingers._

 _He tried not to cry, really he did. But the pain in his hand alone was almost unbearable, not to mention his legs and bottom from the fall. That coupled with the embarrassment of failing yet again while Finn sat laughing at the top of the boulder did absolutely nothing for the child's ego._

" _Elijah!"_

 _Elijah had barely managed to look up at the call of his name before arms were around him, careful fingers probing at his cheeks and shoulders trying to ascertain the damage done. Julien was only a child herself – a young girl of only nine summers – but she had been more a mother to him than his true parents ever had been._

" _Oh, do not baby him so, Julien!" Finn called from high above them, his hands propped on his knees as he looked down on the duo. "Elijah must learn to take a loss without his mother there to nurse him back to health."_

 _There was the slightest narrowing of Julien's eyes before she plastered a smile onto her face, pulling Elijah into her chest as she looked up to Finn. "Why, brother dear! I am so glad to have found you! Aren't you meant to be on a hunt with Father? He certainly wouldn't be very happy to learn that you had missed your lessons with him in favor of traipsing through the woods instead. I suppose it's a good thing I found you first, isn't it?"_

 _Though his face was buried against Julien's chest, Elijah could imagine the angry tick in Finn's jaw he always got when she spoke to him in such a way, and the clenching of his fists. His tense voice carried down with a much different tone when he spoke again. "How thoughtful of you to remind me, sister."_

" _You know I would do anything for my family, brother."_

 _Elijah didn't see Finn climb down from the rock, but he heard him walking away, the leaves and twigs of autumn crunching noisily beneath his leather shoes as he stomped away. It was then that Julien pulled him away to examine him once more, one hand firmly on his shoulder while the other cradled his cheek. "Oh, little Eli," she sighed in her mothering tone, shaking her head slightly. "What am I going to do with you?"_

" _I thought I could make it this time," Elijah sniffled, running the back of his hand under his nose. The motion dug the splinters further into his palm, causing him to let out a small whimper._

" _I didn't realize you enjoyed climbing," Julien commented, raising her eyebrow curiously as she took his hand in hers. Elijah bit the inside of his cheek as she pried the small pieces of wood. "In fact, I happen to recall you specifically stating your distaste for it."_

 _Having been found out, Elijah lowered his eyes to the ground as he whispered his response. "Finn likes climbing."_

 _A knowing smile spread across Julien's lips as she nodded with an understanding more mature than her age might suggest. "Yes, he does. But you are not Finn, are you?"_

 _Elijah's only response was a minuscule shake of his head, his shoulders curling inwards._

" _Of course you aren't," she continued, closing her fingers over Elijah's hand when she had finished clearing it of debris and blood. "You're my perfect little Eli, and I love you for who you are. You do not have to pretend to be Finn, or anyone else for that matter. Anyone who does not see that is not worth your time, or your efforts. Do you understand?"_

 _For the first time that day, a smile graced Elijah's features, his eyes raising to once again meet his sister's. "Yes, Julien."_

" _Wonderful. Come now," she encouraged, standing from the dirt and offering Elijah her hand. "We must help Mother prepare for supper."_

* * *

 _990 AD_

" _Julien! Julien, come quick!"_

 _Julien looked up from her place braiding Rebekah's hair, her eyebrows knitting in confusion at the sight of a now thirteen-year-old Elijah sprinting towards her from the forest surrounding their village. She absentmindedly finished the braid by tying it with a thin strip of leather before standing form her seat, moving around Rebekah. "What's wrong, little Eli?"_

 _The boy nearly slammed into Julien, only stopping when she grasped his shoulders. His frantic eyes met hers as he latched onto her wrist, tugging her forward. "Kol, Niklaus and I were playing in the woods, but then there was yelling and fighting and now Kol is bleeding and I can't find Niklaus!"_

 _It certainly wasn't the whole tale, but it was enough to make Julien hitch up her skirt and take off running in the direction Elijah had just come from. He kept his grip on her wrist as they ran, guiding her to the clearing they had been playing in. Though it was a considerably short time to reach the field, it felt like hours before Julien found Kol leaning against a tree, his hands hiding his face._

" _Go find Niklaus," she instructed Elijah, pulling her hand away from his to approach Kol. She knelt patiently in front of him, aware of his dislike towards being touched without permission. "Kol, darling? Can you move your hands for me?"_

 _Slowly, Kol lowered his hands. Droplets of blood had collected under his nose, spotting his chin and hands where he had smudged it. "It was an accident," he claimed immediately, his features screwing up in anger only to flinch in pain immediately after. "Niklaus always overreacts. It wasn't my fault!"_

 _Julien nodded, bringing her hand to rest curiously on her chin. "He does, does he?"_

" _Yes! It isn't as if I meant to break his silly little toy. I only wanted to see the detailing on the shield, but he refused to hand it over."_

" _I see how that may have sparked an argument," she agreed quietly, carefully lowering herself to sit at his side. "As far as I can tell, this is completely Niklaus' fault. You asked politely to see his toy, and he viciously denied you before striking you. What an awful brother he's turning out to be."_

 _Kol's lips twitched into a frown at her dramatization of the events, guilt creeping in his chest as she spoke. "I wouldn't say that, exactly…"_

" _Would you not? The whole situation appears to be completely his fault, as you've described it to me."_

" _Well, I didn't… He never…" Kol faltered, unwilling to agree that Niklaus was a horrible brother but not wanting to get himself into trouble either._

 _Julien contained her laughter at the abject horror coloring Kol's face at his internal struggle, slipping her fingers over her lips. "He never what? Apologized? Shame on him, then."_

 _Kol didn't have the chance to answer before Elijah had returned with Niklaus at his side, the younger boy looking utterly ashamed of his actions – the feeling only increasing tenfold when he saw that Julien had come to investigate the matter. If there was one thing Niklaus hated most in the world, it was disappointing the sister who had dedicated her life to caring for him and his family._

" _There he is now," Julien goaded, lightly pushing Kol's shoulder to make him stand. "Why don't you go tell him how horrible he is for not sharing with you? Let him know that he was in the wrong, and should be more considerate of your feelings in the future. Tell him how terrible a brother he is – "_

" _He isn't a terrible brother!" Kol snapped, whirling on Julien with a fire in his eyes that she recognized all too well. "Stop saying that! It's my fault that Niklaus' toy is broken, not his! And he only struck me because I shoved him first, so stop being angry with him! It isn't his fault, it's mine!"_

 _Elijah and Niklaus exchanged surprised glances before looking back to the scene before them. Kol's shoulders were rigid with anger as he looked up at his sister. Julien had hidden her lips from view, her form shaking slightly. The sight made Elijah think she had begun to cry, causing him to take a step forward to berate Kol for upsetting her so._

 _It wasn't until she dropped her hand, laughter pouring forth, that he realized what it was she had done._

" _Well, I suppose that's that then," she chuckled, tucking her bent finger beneath Kol's chin when he dropped his furious posture in exchange for one of disbelief. "Don't you think you should apologize to your brother?"_

 _Kol's lips thinned hesitantly. He wasn't one for apologies – much less sincere ones – but he couldn't very well deny Julien, could he? At the very least, he had to applaud her cleverness. Turning on his heel, he met Niklaus' eyes with the barest hint of remorse in his. "I'm sorry, Nik."_

 _Niklaus nodded in acceptance, glad that the fight was over – he didn't like fighting with his family… Except it wasn't exactly over. When he met Julien's eyes, she nodded towards Kol with an expectant expression. Ah… Of course. "I'm sorry too," he apologized sincerely._

 _With a satisfied nod, Julien placed a hand on Kol's shoulder and led him forward so that she could also place one on Niklaus'. The two boys faced each other before looking to her, Julien glancing between the two of them._

" _We are family. Do you know what that means?" Kol and Niklaus looked once more at each other before returning their eyes to hers, waiting for an explanation. "It means that even when we have nothing else, we have each other. Where friends, neighbors, husbands, and wives fail us, family will always be there. Always and forever."_

" _Ugh," Kol groaned with a roll of his eyes. "I don't want a wife. I want to be a great hunter, roaming the lands with no one to tie me down or hold me back!"_

" _That is a discussion for another time," Julien laughed, pulling the boys underneath her arms. Looking to Elijah, she offered him a wink before starting off towards a nearby river. "Come, little Eli. We're going to have to clean up poor Kol before Mother sees him and worries too much."_

* * *

 _1000 AD_

" _So Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and as the sun began to dip below the horizon they each ate their pieces of bread," Julien recited, her hands illustrating the story as she told it to Rebekah and Henrik. Though Rebekah had recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday, she still enjoyed listening to her sister's stories, and Henrik was still young enough to listen to them as he fell to sleep some nights. "They thought their father to be in the wood the whole time, as they listened to the rhythmic swing of his ax, but truly it was only a small branch hanging from a withered tree, swinging back and forth that created the noise."_

 _Rebekah looked up from Julien's storytelling when she heard the familiar sound of steel clashing against steel. "Look," she called, standing from her place on the ground with a growing grin on her face. "Niklaus and Elijah are fighting again!"_

 _Henrik watched her run across the village center, towards his older brother's sparring match. Casting a questioning glance at Julien, she sighed with a roll of her eyes. "Come on then," she relented, pulling Henrik to his feet as she stood to follow Rebekah. "We'll finish the story tonight."_

 _Elijah stepped back cautiously when Niklaus advanced, catching a glimpse of his approaching siblings. Rebekah watched them with her usual awe-struck expression, her hands clasped tightly in front of herself. Julien soon joined her, her fingers intertwined gently with Henrik's and a smirk on her lips. Though she was far less vocal about it than Rebekah, he knew that she enjoyed watching her siblings unwind and have a bit of fun every now and then. Good for their health, she claimed._

" _Look, Niklaus," Elijah said with a wide smile, gesturing towards the gathering crowd. "Our siblings have come to watch my fast-approaching victory."_

" _On the contrary, Elijah," Niklaus disagreed before swinging his sword in a series of complicated twists and turns that the elder barely managed to block – all except the last that was. Dropping to one knee, Niklaus swept his blade upwards one final time, causing Elijah's belt to fall to his feet, cut in half. "They've come to laugh at you."_

 _True to Niklaus' word, the siblings shared a good-hearted laugh while Elijah simply stared down at his useless belt with a shocked grin. Niklaus stood, bowing slightly in the direction of his three siblings who had thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was a moment that should have held great joy for the five siblings in a time where there was little of it to be found._

 _But of course, Mikael had other plans._

 _Without a word, their father approached Elijah and held his hand out, waiting. Elijah glanced once at Niklaus and once at Julien before conceding the blade, stepping back to join his siblings as Mikael positioned the sword in an offensive position._

" _So," Mikael called, purposefully loud enough to draw the attention of their neighbors who had previously strolled around the village, minding their own business. He wanted them to see this. "Why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?"_

" _Father, we were just – just having fun."_

 _Mikael's eye twitched in anger as he advanced on Niklaus, his words punctuated by the swing of the sword he clenched tightly in his fist. "Fun? We fight for our survival, and you find time for_ _ **fun**_ _? I want to have fun! Teach me!"_

" _Father, it was nothing, we – "_

 _He was not given the chance to finish. Mikael was relentless in his fury, treating Niklaus like a true enemy rather than his child. Julien's jaw tightened in frustration, but she knew that there was nothing she could do to stop this now that it had started. All she could do was shield Henrik's eyes when Mikael disarmed Niklaus, turning the boy away when their father shoved Niklaus into the dirt._

" _You don't need to see this," she whispered to Henrik, tugging him against her side. In her peripheral vision she saw their mother tense with jealousy – jealousy at her ability to comfort her children when she never seemed to be able to – but largely ignored her in favor of making sure no true harm came to her brother._

 _Elijah had to stop Julien from lurching forward when she saw Mikael hold the blade threateningly over Niklaus' head with a firm arm across her chest and a small shake of his head. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that as Mikael breathed what were surely words of hatred and disappointment in Niklaus' ear, the steel tip of the sword inched ever closer to piercing his beautiful baby blue eye._

" _What?" Mikael exclaimed suddenly when Niklaus refused to react to his whispered words. "No more laughter?"_

" _You've made your point, Mikael," Esther warned from the sidelines._

 _Mikael's back tensed even further, if such a thing was possible. "Some days," he sighed, "I wonder how you're still alive,_ _ **boy**_ _."_

 _In a final act of rage, Mikael buried the blade into the soil left of Niklaus' head before standing and marching back towards their home. It seemed like hours before the village could even breathe again. The neighbors resumed their daily duties, muttered rumors floating between them at what they had just witnessed. Esther picked up the basket of laundry she had set down, turning her back on her children as she went to finish her chores. With a look from Julien, Rebekah took Henrik from her side and led him back towards the fire they had been sitting at with promises of telling a story of her own invention._

 _Elijah moved to help Niklaus stand with Julien close behind, her eyes flooded with grief worry. It was her self-appointed duty to protect her siblings from all harm, and yet as Mikael threatened to kill her baby brother right in front of her, what had she done?_

 _Nothing._

 _Niklaus refused Elijah's hand, choosing to stand on his own before turning his back just as Esther had done and disappearing into the crowd of villagers, his destination unknown. Julien knew he didn't want anyone to see his weakness. The very same weakness that caused his own father to spurn him, and the same weakness that made Julien want to cradle him against her chest and whisper words of comfort until he believed her._

 _She had watched Mikael torture and humiliate her brother, and what had she done?_

 _Nothing._

 _She would never make that mistake again._

* * *

 _1001 AD – Summer_

 _Julien had always enjoyed the act of creation. Whether that be anything as grand as watching Ayana bring foliage to life with her magic, or something as simple as weaving a crown of flowers, she loved to watch things be made from nothing._

 _Which was the exact reason she sat across from Elijah now, watching with fascination as he manipulated metal into a weapon. She had focused diligently as he heated the metal into a liquid before pouring it into a mold, allowing it to cool slightly before dipping it in water to solidify it once more. Into the fire it had gone then, to make it malleable enough to be hammered to perfection._

 _He sat now at the grindstone, sliding the newly formed blade gracefully across the stone to sharpen it to perfection before it was to be wielded._

" _You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"_

 _Julien blinked out of her reverie once the blade had stopped moving, turning her eyes up to see that Elijah was smirking at her. "My apologies, Elijah," she smiled. "I was simply – "_

" _Watching the blade," he finished for her with a knowing nod before tilting his head. "I asked if Father knew that you had cancelled your walk in the forest with Garrett."_

 _Julien's small wince was answer enough. Elijah sighed dramatically, causing her to defend her actions. "It would never have worked out between us! You know I would never be happy with a man whose idea of fun is sitting for hours on end, meditating on the will of the gods."_

 _Elijah couldn't help but agree with his sister's rationale, but at the same time she was quickly approaching her twenty-sixth birthday. It was unusual for her to be unmarried as it was, let alone turning down every suitor who came to their doorstep. "If you carry on in this fashion, soon there will be no man left in the village whom you have not spurned, 'Lien."_

" _Perhaps that has been my plan all along," she replied with a mischievous grin._

" _I should have known," Elijah said with a roll of his eyes. "My sister is an evil genius. All these years, how could I not have seen it?"_

" _Oh, don't feel so bad, little Eli. It's not your fault I'm smarter than you."_

 _Elijah raised a single eyebrow, an indignant retort forming on the tip of his tongue. He never had the chance to say it, however, when his words were cut short by the most anguished cry for help either he or his sister had ever been so unfortunate to hear._

" _ **Mother**_ _!"_

 _The siblings exchanged worried looks before standing simultaneously from their seats, the voice all too recognizable._

 _Niklaus._

 _Elijah and Julien pushed their ways through the wooden gate separating their blacksmithing equipment from the rest of the little village, stumbling over their feet as they hurried to find their brother and whatever caused him to scream with such agony. By the time they arrived on the scene, they saw that the rest of their family had already convened._

 _Their mother had collapsed to her knees, sobs wracking her body as they had never before seen. Mikael stood slightly off to the side, one hand over his mouth as the other crossed over his chest. Ayana sat to Esther's right, a comforting hand on her shoulder while her own eyes pooled with unshed tears. Finn knelt behind their mother, his eyes closed as he rested his forehead atop her hair. Kol stood with a dangerously rigid posture and blank expression, appearing as if he may snap in half were he to be touched. Rebekah crouched at Niklaus' side, running her fingers through his hair as they both cried at the sight before them._

 _Elijah arrived slightly ahead of Julien, finally seeing what could have possibly caused such a reaction from his family._

 _Large strips of clothing ripped at the seams, animalistic claw marks marring his young body, dried blood coloring his once pale skin. Elijah never imagined he might have seen Henrik in such a state, but there was no doubt that the reality far surpassed any images he could have ever conjured himself._

" _The wolves," Niklaus answered when Esther asked how this could have happened, his words barely understandable through his thick tears. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."_

 _Esther shook her head viciously, latching onto Ayana's arm. "We must save him. Please! There must be a way!"_

" _The spirits will not give us a way, Esther," Ayana replied sadly. "I'm sorry. Your boy is gone."_

 _None of the Mikaelson children had ever seen such pain as the moment reality settled on Esther's features. The reality that Henrik, her youngest child, was gone forever. And there was nothing she could do about it._

 _The villagers went completely unnoticed as they circled around the family that had suddenly grown smaller. Elijah tore his eyes away from his brother just long enough to observe the rest of his family, one by one._

 _Ayana was the first to walk away, clearing her throat with another mumbled apology before she retreated back into her home for the remainder of the day. Mikael was quick to follow, anger clear in his actions as he marched back towards the wooden figure he had been practicing sword-fighting on. Niklaus crumbled in on himself, Rebekah laying herself over him like a protective shell. Kol backed away slowly, shaking his head to himself before finally turning his back on the scene. Finn helped Esther to her feet, pulling her away against her will._

 _He turned then to Julien, and he would never forget what he saw on her face that day._

 _In all his twenty-four years on this earth, Elijah had never once seen his sister cry. She had always been the protector, the second mother, the one he ran to when he needed help, or advice, or a shoulder for himself to cry on. And yet, it was not until this very moment, that he realized no one had ever been that for her._

 _As she stared down at the remains of her youngest brother, however, Julien cried._

 _She did not sob like Niklaus and Esther, or sniffle like Ayana and Rebekah. Instead her eyebrows had furrowed so deeply together he could not see where one began and the other ended. Her nostrils flared as she pursed her lips that refused to pull out of their frown. Silent tears fell down her cheeks, glistening against the sun that had only just passed midway across the sky. More than anything, she simply looked lost._

 _Elijah was unaccustomed to comforting others, as Julien had always taken over that role, but as she could not console herself, he knew he had to try. But when he reached a hand out to touch her shoulder, she only pulled roughly away. His hand remained hovering in the air as she crossed her arms tightly across her chest._

" _I was meant to protect him," she breathed, her voice hoarse with grief. "I was meant to protect him, but I have failed."_

" _It wasn't your fault," Elijah disagreed gently. "I know not who to blame, but I am certain it is not you. You have always done everything you could for this family."_

 _Julien's pursed lips quivered as he spoke, the shaking in her shoulders growing more pronounced. Elijah waited patiently, but it seemed she had nothing else to say. He reached out once more to lay a hand on her, expecting her to again reject him._

 _She did no such thing._

 _The second his palm touched her shoulder, all her walls seemed to disappear. In an instant she had slammed against him, her fingers woven into the fabric of his tunic as her face buried into his neck. He cared not that her tears would stain the fabric of his shirt. He cared not that her hair would muss if she rubbed it against him so. He cared not that she had left herself vulnerable. He only wrapped his arms as tightly around her as he could manage, his cheek resting atop her head as he murmured quiet words of comfort that would do nothing to lessen her pain, but that he hoped might convince her that he would be there to help her through it._

 _That day was the first time Elijah ever saw Julien cry. It would not be the last, but it would always be the one that left the greatest impression on him._

* * *

 _1001 AD – Winter_

 _Nothing was the same after Henrik died._

 _The Mikaelson children, who had once roamed freely through the village to laugh and play, had resigned themselves to completing their chores and doing what had to be done if they wanted to survive. Esther and Mikael locked themselves away with Ayana, conversing in secret of things none other could have possibly conceived. Suppers were silent, with only the scraping of utensils against plates breaking the thick silence._

 _They had thought that this night would be no different._

 _They were wrong._

 _All eyes turned to Mikael when he stood from his seat, a mysterious smile on his face. "I understand that these last few months have been… difficult, to say the very least. But if any good at all has come from the tragedy that struck this family, it is that it has brought us even closer. To that, I propose a toast."_

 _Esther stood as if on cue, fetching a pitcher of wine from a table in the corner of the room. The Mikaelson children exchanged a few confused glances, but otherwise did not object to this odd display as their mother poured wine into each of their cups._

 _Mikael waited until each of them had been served to raise his own cup. "To family."_

" _To family," the children echoed, lifting their cups before drinking._

 _Finn was the first to go. Whether it was because he sat the nearest to Mikael or for some other reason would never be known, but it was his pained cries that first rang out through the night. Immediately the other children had shot out of their seats as Finn slumped sideways in his seat, his blood-laced wine dripping to the floor and mixing with his own spilled blood._

 _Kol was the next to receive a sword through his heart, only managing to take a single step away from the table before he collapsed next to his seat._

 _Rebekah fell to her knees beside the burning fire pit, her fingers barely being spared from the flames that threatened to burn them._

 _Niklaus hurried to her side, falling on top of her when the sword ran straight through his back._

 _Elijah would have been next had Julien not been quick enough to shove him aside, the blade piercing clean through her. Her terrified, hatred and grief filled expression pierced his soul as she fell before him, her fingers grazing his chest before she hit the table on her way down._

 _His eyes turned to Mikael, his tongue tied as he failed to understand why this was happening. He wanted to ask why, how he had come to the conclusion that this was necessary, how he could possibly murder his own children as Esther simply stood by and watched._

 _He wasn't given the chance before he too was impaled by his father's blade, the cold steel ripping through skin, muscle and organs on its way through. It almost hurt more on the way back out._

 _The last thing he saw before his eyes closed forever was the frozen look on Julien's face. The tear tracks that stained her pale, lifeless cheeks sorely reminded him of Henrik's death, and that this was the second time she had ever cried. Once for the death of Henrik, and once for the death of the rest of her family. Of course he had no idea that they would all awaken within the hour, stronger and better than ever. Even if he had, there was nothing on earth that could ever compel him to forgive his father for the atrocities he committed that night._

* * *

The serious expression on Julien's face finally lifted at the sound of Elijah's voice, her lips turning upwards into a grateful smile. "Little Eli," she greeted in the same low, warm tone she had always spoken with. Her voice alone was a comfort. She could tell him almost anything in that voice and he would be inclined to believe her.

"I am not a little boy anymore, 'Lien," he teased lightly, the grey pallor that had poisoned his skin slowly but surely receding.

"Nonsense. You will always be my baby brother, no matter how many millennia you walk this wretched planet." She paused slightly, her smile faltering. "Speaking of wretched. Who did this to you?"

Elijah sighed, not surprised in the least at this new line of questioning. "Nobody that matters," he avoided. "Just a few children who believe they can stop me with nothing more than a well-placed coat hanger and willpower alone."

Her jaw twitched with irritation. "How disrespectful… Are they dead?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Then why do I smell death in this house? And it isn't you," she clarified when he shot her an unamused look.

Elijah's eyes flickered towards the staircase, his memory returning. "Our old friend Trevor is resting upstairs. Though I'm not quite sure where his head landed."

Julien nodded in understanding, though he knew from the small sigh through her nose that she disapproved of his methods. It was Julien's one fault in his eyes – her hypocritical views on violence. Anyone who threatened their family was fair game on her part, but she hated for any of her siblings to so much as flick someone. "And Rose-Marie?"

"Gone. She wasn't on my hit list… tonight."

"Must you be so aggressive?"

And there it was. "Do not pretend to be a saint, Julien, when we both know that you are anything but."

"Little Eli!" Julien gasped theatrically, fighting back a smirk as a delicate hand laid upon her chest. "How dare you suggest that I am anything but a perfectly reasonable woman. Why, I would never so much as hurt a fly."

"Of course not, dear sister," he played along with a smirk of his own. "Unless said fly so happened to land upon one of your siblings. In that case, you would not rest until said fly and all of its lineage – past and present – had been slaughtered and buried six feet below the earth."

"Everyone has a breaking point," she conceded. "And every rule a loophole."

"I couldn't agree more."

Julien inspected Elijah carefully, tucking her finger beneath his chin as her playful expression was replaced once more by a disapproving frown. "You didn't answer my question. Who did this to you?"

Damn. He had thought for sure that the fly scenario would throw her off… And yet, he would have been disappointed if it had. She was far too clever for that.

Elijah wasn't quite ready to reveal all of his plans to Julien just yet. He trusted her more than anyone else in their continually dwindling family – perhaps even more than he trusted himself at times. He loved her more than words could ever describe or actions could ever prove. He sought her approval and craved her acceptance.

And yet, he knew that Niklaus felt exactly the same. Even if he would not admit to anyone – including himself – he was no different than the rest of his siblings in this regard. Julien had always held a position of power over them, whether she intended to or not. As she had chosen to spend her eternity keeping them whole and happy, they all strived to please her.

For that exact reason, he couldn't reveal his plans. Not until he was sure that she would choose him over Niklaus.

Even _thinking_ about forcing Julien to choose between family threatened to crush his heart beyond repair, for Elijah knew just what a decision like that would do to someone like her. But what choice did he have? He knew that she would never simply stay out of it, and if she wasn't with him than she was… _against him._

The fact that the thought alone of being on a side opposite his sister physically pained him was not a good sign.

Julien shifted her palm to caress his cheek, seeing the internal struggle Elijah suffered. She knew not what his thoughts were or why they troubled him so, but she was determined to fix whatever it was. "Forget I asked," she said, smiling once more as she helped him to his feet. "We can always plan our revenge later. For now, I assume you've made living arrangements for your stay here?"

A great weight lifted from Elijah's shoulders at seeing her smile again. "Of course."

"Good. Because I certainly didn't."

"You? Being _impulsive_?" Elijah chuckled as Julien wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kicking the front door open to lead him outside. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Yes, well," Julien sighed, bumping her hip against Elijah's before leaving him against the side of her car to open the passenger side door for him. "Forgive me for being unconcerned with a hotel room when my little Eli is in danger. It must have slipped my mind."

"A moment for the history books," he teased.

"Elijah?"

"Yes, Julien?"

"Do shut up."

* * *

 **A/N:**

Thus begins the tale of Julien Mikaelson.

Regarding Elijah's feelings towards Julien's happiness: We all know that a vampire's emotions are heightened when they turn. This has been shown in the TV series to increase love, hatred, loyalty, etc. Growing up, Julien did more for the Mikaelson children than both of their parents combined. In life, she was their "second mother", their true mother in a sense. As vampires, that loyalty and tendency to please Julien has increased into a bond between the siblings. If they agree on nothing else, they can all agree that they love her.

Also, it's never mentioned in the show (to my knowledge) or the wiki _exactly_ how old the Originals are or how far apart in age they are, instead being rounded down to decades. For the purposes of this story, and in no way are these ages canonical, the ages are as follows:

Finn – 27. Julien – 26. Elijah – 24. Klaus – 22. Kol – 21. Rebekah – 19.

This chapter was mostly flashbacks to give you a glimpse into how Julien fits into the Mikaelson and what role she plays, and moving forward there may be a few more (as in the show) but will generally follow the timeline of the TVD universe.


	2. The Colors

**The Colors**

* * *

Julien walked out of the hotel bedroom after dressing for the day, her eyes scanning the main living area for her little brother. A frown appeared on her face when she saw that he wasn't there, or in the kitchenette. "Elijah?"

The sound of the door being opened caused her to turn on her heel. Surprise flickered on Elijah's features when he saw Julien waiting for him, but it was quickly replaced by a neutral expression. "You're up early," he greeted casually, closing the door behind himself. "I wouldn't have left if I had known you would be up."

That was a lie, of course. He'd had business to attend to involving Rose and her friend Slater. Damon Salvatore's involvement hadn't been anticipated, but unsurprising nonetheless. Still, he was intent on keeping Julien out of the loop regarding the doppelganger for as long as he could manage. If a few white lies had to weigh on his increasingly guilty conscience to do so, it was a burden he would gladly bear.

Julien nodded, leaning so that her lower back rested against the kitchenette's island counter. "It is a bit early. Where did you go?"

Ah. There it was. "Personal matters," he attempted to brush off with a grin, moving around her to reach the refrigerator. Opening the door, he produced one of many blood bags and held it out in offering. "Hungry?"

"No." Julien's cheek twitched with agitation, her fingers weaving themselves into her shirt as she tilted her head curiously. "What are you hiding from me, Elijah?"

"Nothing, dear sister."

"You're lying."

A small crack formed in Elijah's heart at the frown on Julien's face – just another for the collection. "Never," he assured her, abandoning the cold blood bag on the counter to instead place his hands on Julien's shoulders. "I have never once lied to you, 'Lien, and I don't intend to start now."

Elijah measured his breaths as evenly as possible as her eyes examined his. It was true that he had never lied to her before. He hated for this to be the first time, but he was convinced that it was the only way to protect her. She had protected him for so long, sacrificed more than most could even imagine. It was time for him to return the favor.

Julien didn't buy it for a second.

She had been deceived too many times in her long life. She'd had to learn the hard way how to tell when people didn't intend to share the truth. There were a few obvious signs, but even more skilled liars were easy to detect if she looked for one specific thing – utter calm. Even when people told the truth they were nervous, for fear of not being believed. Only those confident in their lies did not fear being found out.

Just as it hurt Elijah to lie, it hurt Julien to see that he had done so. A small, uneasy smile settled on her lips as she cupped his cheek. "I trust you, my precious little Eli. Do you not trust me?"

"Of course I do," he answered without hesitation, his fingers squeezing her shoulders as all traces of deceit abandoned his features. "More than anything or anyone. You must never doubt that."

"Then why do you refuse to tell me who you've been meeting with these past few days?"

Elijah's lips parted as if to answer… but the words stuck in his throat. He ground his teeth as his jaw ticked in frustration – frustration with himself at not having thought to prepare a story ahead of time, frustration for having to lie in the first place, frustration with Niklaus for putting him in this position.

"I'm sorry," he finally said with a near silent sigh, his hands sliding from her shoulders as he took a step back. At the flicker of hurt in her eyes, he hurried to make amends. "I promise to explain everything, soon. I just need a little more time to make sure everything is in order."

But Julien had already turned her back to him, nodding absentmindedly as she returned to her bedroom. The door closed with an audible _click_ behind her, and Elijah growled to himself. Damn Niklaus for making him hurt her like this. If anything, it was only another reason he deserved to die. Though Elijah took no great pleasure in the thought of killing his own brother, it helped to imagine that he had done yet another injustice to his family.

Elijah contemplated following after Julien to offer what little comfort he could, but before he had the chance to decide whether or not that was a good idea his phone rang in his pocket. Seeing as it could only be one person, he didn't bother to glance at the name displayed on the screen before answering. "You have what you need?"

" _We can begin the spell as soon as you arrive."_

"Fantastic. Make sure everything is set up before I arrive," he instructed, making his way to the front door he had just entered through mere minutes ago. "I'm on a bit of a schedule, and don't have time for any distractions."

" _You'll have the girl soon enough."_

"You should hope so."

Elijah ended the call without a goodbye, slipping it back into his pocket as the door to his and Julien's hotel room closed. He didn't want to leave without resolving their issues, but finding Elena was possibly the only resolution he would be able to get. If he could simply ensure her safety before the night of the ritual, he could spend the remainder of his time convincing Julien that his side was the right one. He was already going to lose a brother. He refused to lose her as well.

Back in the hotel room, Julien stood with her back pressed firmly against her bedroom door, confusion and anger both clear in her features. Confusion as to who Elijah had been speaking with and what girl he wanted so desperately to find. Anger as to the fact that she had just received all the proof she needed to confirm that he was lying to her.

A small part of Julien compelled her to run to her bed, collapse into the mountain of pillows and thick comforters, and wallow over the fact that her sibling was keeping her at arm's length.

A very, very small part.

That childish whim was quickly squashed by Julien's rationale, which begged her to pry open the bedroom door and march right out of this hotel. If Elijah wasn't going to tell her what he was up to, she would simply have to deduce it for herself. That, of course, meant following him.

She wasn't an especially good tracker, nor did she have the faintest idea where Elijah was headed, but Julien was nothing if not determined. Besides, being a thousand-year-old vampire had to be good for something, right?

* * *

Elijah's long legs suited him for walking at a much quicker pace, but Julien had the gift of not growing tired as she hurried to keep up with him. Through a series of twists and turns, never-ending sidewalks, street corners and neighborhood strolls, she had just barely managed to keep up with her brother. He had made a short stop at a smaller house on the way, but Elijah had only been inside for a few minutes before continuing his journey out of town.

Which had led them here, to the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia where a large house with thick windows hid her brother's secret. Though Julien had no idea who it belonged to or why Elijah had come here so quickly, she knew that he had gone inside. That was enough to lead her to the front door, which she thought would pose a greater threat than it did.

After pushing the door open, Julien tested the entrance by moving her hand through the doorway. When she felt no invisible barrier that came with the need to be invited, she felt conflicted. While this meant that she could enter, it also meant no living residents occupied the space. Elijah was meeting with another vampire, then? Curious.

Normally Julien would have taken the time to appreciate the fine architecture of the home – the way the wood bent unnaturally to the owner's wishes, metal chandeliers holding lights that required no flame – as modern times had never ceased to amaze her, just as new inventions had astounded her in the past. She had no time to marvel at the beauty of the place, however, with much more pressing matters clouding her mind.

That didn't stop her hand from trailing along the ornate wall decorations as she tip-toed her way down the main hallway. She could hear voices in one of the rooms up ahead, but wasn't quite close enough yet to understand what they were saying.

Julien's eyes closed in concentration, her feet pausing as she tilted her ears in the direction of the voices in an attempt to get a better idea of what was happening.

Her presence had clearly not been anticipated, if the woman who came sprinting down the hallway only to crash directly into her was any indication. Julien instinctively caught the woman who had knocked her a few steps back, her fingers closing around her arms like steel traps. The woman's eyes widened in fear at the same time that a mischievous grin grew on Julien's face, both recognizing the other simultaneously.

"Hello, Rose-Marie," Julien greeted, her voice barely above a whisper. She wouldn't want to announce her arrival preemptively, after all. "My, but it has been some time… Nearly 500 years, in fact."

Rose offered no answer other than her constant fearful shaking. Though Julien was known among vampires to be the least cruel of the Mikaelson siblings without a purpose, those who had slighted her family were never heard from again.

Julien had long since abandoned her quarrels with the poor woman, however. As Elijah had spared her life the other night, Julien would do the same now. Of course, she didn't need to know that just yet. "Who else is in this house?"

"I don't – "

"Shh," Julien warned, moving one hand to press a finger to her lips with a single eyebrow raised. "Quietly, if you please."

"I didn't know what she was planning when she asked me to bring her here, I swear."

"You didn't know what who was planning, darling?"

Rose's eyebrows twitched in confusion as she answered. "The doppelganger."

Julien's smile disappeared instantaneously, replaced by a much harsher expression as her grip on the terrified vampire increased tenfold. "I am going to ask you one more time who is in this house," she said, her voice low and threatening. "And might I remind you that anything less than the absolute truth will not end well for you."

"I'm not lying," Rose assured the Original, shaking her head frantically. "Elijah is with her… Did you two not come together?" The thought crossed her mind that if Julien hadn't come to find the doppelganger with Elijah, her much deadlier brother was the only other option. "Did Klaus send you?"

Julien ignored both questions, releasing her hold on the woman. "I suggest you run very far, very quickly."

Rose didn't need to be told twice. Before Julien could even finish her warning, she had run from the house at full vampiric speed. Julien remained firmly in place, her unfocused eyes set on the closed set of doors in front of her as her teeth clamped down painfully on the inside of her cheek. It seemed Elijah was hiding a much bigger secret from her than she originally thought.

The whim to make a dramatic entrance crossed her mind, but just as nearly all her whims were, it was quickly forgotten. Instead, Julien turned sharply on her heel and swept out of the house. She needed time to contemplate the implications this discovery held for her family, without anyone else offering their own dim-witted opinions. She needed to be alone.

* * *

Elijah didn't return to the hotel until much later that night. After dealing with Elena's suicidal tendencies, he'd gone back to Jonas and Luka to discuss their next move. It had taken much longer than he had anticipated, meaning he wouldn't have as much time as he'd hoped to speak with Julien when he finally returned.

"'Lien?" he called as he entered the living room, quickly scanning the room only to find that she was nowhere in sight. He turned then to her bedroom, knocking quietly on the door. There was no response. Regardless, he twisted the knob and pushed it gently open, peeking into the dark room.

Julien's back was turned to him, the plush white comforter pulled up to her chin rising slowly and evenly. The sight of her peaceful sleep brought the first genuine smile to his lips that day, despite the fact that he would have to wait until tomorrow to speak with her.

"Goodnight, Julien," he mumbled, closing the door silently behind himself as he left her to sleep.

What Elijah had failed to see with her back turned was Julien staring blankly into the night, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. She loved her brother more than life itself, truly. She had never done anything that might lead him to doubt her. And yet he had betrayed her trust – lying while he insisted that he told only truth, and conspiring against their family behind her back as if she were some blind fool.

In the morning he would need to be dealt with, but for tonight she would simply pull her knees to her chest and wonder when she had lost Elijah's trust.

* * *

"Another early start? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

Elijah stopped halfway to the kitchen when Julien ignored his teasing. He had seen her sitting on the couch facing away from the kitchen when he left his bedroom, a mug of steaming coffee held between her hands and a thoughtful look on her face. He had thought she was simply tired, but when she didn't respond to him, a new thought formed in his head. "'Lien?"

"You lied to me."

Elijah sighed when she spoke, abandoning his previous journey towards the kitchen in favor of sitting in the chair opposite Julien. Her fingers had tightened around the mug, her eyes focused on the table that separated them. "We went over this yesterday. I have never – "

"You _had_ never," she corrected, her tone harsh and reprimanding. "You _had_ never lied to me."

"And I still haven't," he insisted.

"The doppelganger."

Elijah could have sworn that in that moment his heart ceased to beat, his chest constricting painfully. She knew. He didn't know how she knew, but he could tell from the way she had said the word that she wasn't guessing or implying, she _knew_.

Thick silence clouded over the siblings, both at a loss for words at this revelation. Elijah had lied to Julien. She knew he had lied, and was not happy about it.

"I suppose you never have been one for doing things halfway," Julien finally broke the silence with a rueful laugh. "If you were going to lie to me, it would have to be a big one. No breaking a vase and covering it up or losing the keys and saying it was me. No, you just had to find the _single_ component keeping Niklaus from breaking that wretched curse, and insist it still did not exist!"

Elijah flinched when her voice ended an octave higher than when she had begun the accusation. He hadn't heard her raise her voice in over a century, and now she did it to scold him of all people. What a terrible morning this was turning out to be. Still, he had one big question. "How did you find out?"

Julien stood from her seat with a scoff, setting her mug on the table before moving to stand behind the chair. "If you plan on deceiving your family, I suggest being a bit more subtle about taking incriminating phone calls from those helping you and taking leisurely strolls in broad daylight that would lead me straight to the very girl you wished to hide."

Elijah ran a tired hand down his face. She was right, of course. He shouldn't have been so obvious about his actions if he didn't want her to know. "I never meant to hurt you," he assured her, standing to match her position.

"I don't care what your intentions were – you failed."

"If you would just let me explain – "

"How?" Julien gripped the back of the chair, her jaw set as her knuckles turned white. "How could you possibly explain this in such a way that I might understand, Elijah? What words are there in any language you know that might even begin to explain why you betrayed me – betrayed your family?"

"What family?" Elijah exclaimed, holding his arms out by his sides as if to show that they weren't there. "What family do I have left to betray? Niklaus has taken them all! Finn, Rebekah, Kol – they are our family, Julien. He has taken them away from us, driven daggers into their hearts, locked them in coffins and you expect me to do nothing?"

"I expect you to tell me the truth!"

"You would not have helped me even if I did," Elijah said with a vehement shake of his head.

"Perhaps," Julien allowed with a slow nod, her hands dropping to her side as she retreated backwards. "I suppose we'll never find out."

Elijah followed after his sister as she turned her back on him, striding with determined steps towards the door leading out of their shared room. His anger dissipated in record time when her hand closed around the knob, pulling the door open with enough force to make the hinges groan under the pressure. "Julien, wait!"

Julien bit back a sigh as she paused, her desire to leave the argument warring with her primal instinct to stay with her family. She didn't look back at Elijah, only tilted her head enough to show that she was listening.

"Don't leave," he pleaded, his hand hovering above her shoulder. "I don't want you to be angry with me."

"I'm not angry," she breathed, her voice no louder than a whisper. "I'm disappointed."

Elijah didn't try to stop her again when she left, frozen in place by her words. She had never been disappointed in him before. Niklaus once or twice, Kol a handful of times, but never Elijah.

He found himself wishing then that he had told her of his plans for Niklaus. She would have been angry and upset, of course. She would have yelled at him, and he would have let her. It would have been better than this. He would have embraced it, in fact – the outrage and the indignation, the desolation and the begging him not to go through with it. Anything was better than disappointing Julien.

And yet that was exactly what he had done.

* * *

Alaric spiked Jules' drink with wolfsbane while Damon distracted her by calling him the town drunk, explaining that they simply put him in a cab when they grew tired of him. After he the wolfsbane had mixed into the alcohol, Alaric slipped the drink back in front of the woman with a lopsided smile. "Please don't talk about me like I'm not here," he slurred slightly to give the 'town drunk' angle more credit.

"Why are you here?"

Damon smirked when Alaric shot a glare at him, nodding his head to indicate that he would take over from here. Alaric lifted his own drink as a goodbye when Jules thanked him for hers, taking it with him to a booth towards the back of the Grill. Even though it was part of their plan to see if Jules was a werewolf, it still annoyed him when Damon was an asshole.

He sat where he could keep an eye on the conversation, but far enough away where they wouldn't see him if they weren't looking. His part in this masquerade was over, anyway. The only reason he stayed was to keep an eye on Damon and make sure he didn't royally screw things up – which was honestly a very high probability.

Three drinks later, Alaric had grown tired of watching Damon flirt and had turned his attention to the phone in his hands. He hadn't spoken to Jenna all day – not since she confronted him about hiding things from her. He lied, of course. _I would never hide anything from you._ Vampires, werewolves, witches, doppelgangers… Of course she hadn't believed him. Or answered any of his texts or calls. Or the door, when he had gone to her house to check on her.

He took another drink.

"You're a good friend."

Alaric looked up from his silent phone at the quiet voice. A woman he had never met before stood next to his otherwise empty table, an easy smile on her lips while her eyes surveyed the bar across the room. He followed her gaze to see that she was looking at Damon and Jules. "What makes you say that?"

The woman turned back to him, and he had to remind himself to breathe when he saw her eyes. "Playing wingman for your friend at the bar," she explained in a whisper, bringing one hand up to hide her mouth as if they were sharing a secret. "I know a town drunk when I see one, believe me. You aren't one of them. Oldest trick in the book, that is."

Alaric chuckled with a small shrug. She wasn't exactly right, but it wasn't as if he could correct her. "It wasn't a big deal, really. She's, uh… Not my type."

"Oh?" The woman raised an eyebrow, setting her own drink that she had carried with her to his table down as her smile shifted into a smirk. "And what exactly is your type?"

"My girlfriend."

A sudden laugh burst through the woman's lips, her hand quickly moving to smother it when it turned a few heads in their direction. "I would certainly hope so," she chuckled softly after taking a calming breath. Her piercing eyes scanned Alaric then, her elbows leaning casually onto the table. "What's your name?"

Alaric glanced once more at his phone before setting it face down on the table, offering the woman his hand. "Alaric."

Her smile seemed to brighten as she took his hand, a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. "Alaric," she repeated. "It would seem that we have something in common."

"And what would that be?"

"Our names," she explained, taking the seat across from him without waiting for an invitation. He didn't mind. "They're both Viking."

Alaric took another sip from his drink as she spoke, his natural curiosity winning out over logic the longer he spoke with this woman who had come to speak to him for reasons unknown. "Oh yeah? What's your name?"

"Julien."

"That's a pretty name," he said without much forethought. "Do you know a lot about names?"

She nodded silently, the natural smile that never seemed to leave her face firmly in place. "It's a bit of a hobby for me – knowing things that don't have much practical application."

Alaric wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She seemed content enough to simply sit without speaking, her eyes falling to the fake candle attached to the wall separating them from the next row of tables. Her fingers drifted absentmindedly to the light shaped to look like a flame, slowly drifting as her expression became nostalgic for a reason he would probably never know.

Maybe it was because he was drunk. Maybe it was because something in her eyes looked sad and lost. Maybe it was because he was fighting with Jenna. Maybe it was because he had nothing better to do while he waited for Jules to drink the wolfsbane. He didn't know why, but he did it.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

* * *

After her spat with Elijah, Julien had gone wondering through the little town of Mystic Falls that she knew now Elijah had come to in order to find the doppelganger. Seeing as it was early morning, there hadn't been many residents around to observe her angry posture and rigid walking pace. She hadn't known how to get there, but Julien knew exactly where she was going.

The forest.

All her life she had taken solace in the comforts of nature. It made sense when you considered the fact that not only had she been raised around witches, but had been one herself once upon a time. Of course, she had lost all traces of that the night her parents decided the answer to all their problems was turning their children into vampires.

As Julien settled herself against a tree, her fingers digging into the soil she sat on while the sun shone against her closed eyelids, she tried to remember the feeling of magic coursing through her body. It was a distant, faraway feeling – one that hurt to try and conjure only to ultimately be disappointed when she felt nothing but the bloodlust. That had never stopped her from trying, however.

In fact, she had spent the entire day trying. Birds soared above her as woodland creatures scurried above and around her. The townspeople of Mystic Falls carried about their days, working and playing nearby. All while Julien sat, and remembered.

When Julien opened her eyes, she saw that the sun had been replaced by the moon. It wasn't the first time she had done something like this. It was immature and irresponsible, but she didn't feel like berating herself tonight. With the boiling feud between Elijah and Niklaus, she knew that tonight may very well be her last night of freedom before the storm.

If that was true, she was determined to have a good time.

Which was what had led her to the Mystic Grill in the first place. She had been there for at least an hour before Alaric had entered with his friend, drinking her troubles away. When she saw what Alaric did for his friend, a smile had come to her face. Regardless of intentions, he had done a nice thing for a friend.

Julien had always been astounded by kindness. There was so much darkness in this cruel world. Any chance she had to observe a bit of light was welcome. Which was why she had approached him in the first place.

And now she was here. Her quarrel with Elijah had been clouded by the alcohol pumping through her system, and her worries for Niklaus blinded by Alaric's infectious grin.

They spoke of inconsequential things – something Julien had not done in a long time. She told him that she had never been to Mystic Falls, and he told her the best places to visit. He told her that he had never been outside of the United States, and she told him that Paris was lovely this time of year. She told him that she came from a rather large, rather dysfunctional family. He told her that he was an only child. She told him that she had an affinity for architecture. He told her that he was a history major.

Neither Julien nor Alaric could remember the last time either of them had a conversation that didn't revolve around death or the supernatural. In the short time they had been speaking, they both felt as if heavy weights had been lifted from their shoulders.

Until they were interrupted, of course.

"You're a terrible friend."

Alaric sighed at the familiar voice, closing his eyes in irritation. "Thanks, buddy."

"You're welcome," Damon replied sarcastically. "While you were busy getting your flirt on, Jules left after not-so-subtly warning me about… you-know-what," he finished cryptically, glancing at Julien out of the corner of his eye.

"No, no, I'm not – we're not – there was no flirting," Alaric stuttered, gesturing between himself and Julien defensively. "We were just – just talking."

Damon raised an eyebrow when Julien's head dipped into her hands, her smile hidden but clearly seen by the wrinkles that formed by her eyes as she chuckled to herself. " _Right_ ," Damon drawled. "Whatever. I'm gonna head home, make sure I don't get any _unexpected visitors_."

Alaric nodded his head with a tight-lipped smile as Damon walked away, leaving the Grill. When he was well out of earshot, Alaric dropped his forehead against the table with a thump while Julien laughed. This was definitely going to cause a few problems for him later. Knowing Damon, he would tell Stefan about tonight, who would tell Elena, who would tell Jenna, and then he would have to deal with –

His thoughts crawled to a stop at the feeling of a gentle hand resting on his arm with a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sorry if I've caused trouble for you," Julien apologized sincerely. "It wasn't my intention."

Alaric tilted his head so that he could see Julien, his cheek resting on the arm she wasn't holding. Though his vision was blurred by all the alcohol in his system, he could still see her eyes clearly. "Don't apologize. It isn't your fault that Jenna and I… we don't exactly have…" He trailed off into a sigh, which turned into a regretful chuckle. "It's not your fault."

Julien offered Alaric a comforting smile, squeezing his arm once more before standing from the table. "Take a walk with me."

Alaric wasn't given the chance to reply before she had pulled him to his feet, keeping her hold firm on his arm as she tugged him out of the Grill. It was clear that she hadn't meant it as a question. "Where are we going?"

She shrugged in response, grinning at him over her shoulder as they walked into the cool night air. "I have no idea. Anywhere but home."

He could live with that.

* * *

"So you said you know a lot about names?" Alaric asked nearly fifteen minutes into their walk, the fresh air helping to clear his mind the smallest bit – at least enough to let him walk without stumbling. Julien had released his arm a while back, tucking her hands inside the pockets of her jacket as he did the same. They walked now side by side, underneath the sparse street lights that clouded the stars. He had no idea what time it was, but found himself not caring all the same.

"One of my hobbies," she confirmed. "Why? What do you want to know?"

"Well, you said that Alaric is a Viking name. Do you know what it means?"

Julien laughed quietly, her breath appearing in front of her as a nearly invisible puff of air. It was still only the fall, but the temperatures at night had dropped well into the 40's lately. "I do."

Alaric's eyes moved to her face, though hers remained on the path before them. "Are you going to share with the class?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely." She shot him a look that said she was being sarcastic before returning her gaze forwards. "It means 'powerful', or 'noble ruler'."

Alaric snorted at that with a shake of his head. "Guess nobody told my mom." Julien remained quiet, her lips pressed tightly together. "And your name? What does Julien mean?"

"It has many meanings, depending on where you believe the name originated from," she answered. Once again her face shifted into that sad, nostalgic look as she retreated into her own mind. "Where I come from, it means 'youthful child'… Perhaps no one informed my mother of that particular meaning either."

"Probably not," Alaric said in a purposefully light tone, wanting to clear the tense feeling that had permeated the air between them. "You're definitely too old to be called youthful."

Maybe it wasn't the best joke, but it worked. A bubbly laugh that was quickly becoming familiar to Alaric burst through her lips, her hand leaving her pocket to hold her stomach. "You have absolutely no idea how right you are."

The silence that followed was in no way uncomfortable for either of them. They walked without talking for a while after that, only stopping when Julien suggested they take a break on a bench they were about to pass. Alaric agreed without argument, the two of them settling in next to each other.

Alaric closed his eyes with a sigh, resting his head against the back of the bench. The alcohol was starting to make him tired, but he didn't want to go home to his empty apartment where he would do nothing but worry about people trying to kill him and his friends. For whatever reason, Julien didn't want to go home either. Though she hadn't shared her reasons with him, he was glad enough for the company. He didn't do so well on his own.

When he felt his cheek begin to itch with the familiar sensation of being watched, Alaric cracked open one eye to see that Julien was looking down at him. Before he had the chance to ask why she was staring at him, she looked away. His eyes followed hers, and he found that she was once again fiddling her fingers.

He hadn't noticed it before, but the ministrations didn't appear to be random. They looked practiced, and refined. "Why do you do that? The thing with your hands?"

Julien's hand stilled. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You'll laugh."

Alaric straightened his back, turning slightly on the bench to face Julien. "Try me."

Her eyes remained firmly on her fingers as she began to move them again, repeating the same patterns over and over. For a moment Alaric thought that she was going to ignore his request, but after another minute of contemplation she gave an answer he honestly hadn't expected.

"When I was younger, I was in love with the idea of magic," she explained loosely, only partially lying to conceal the fact that she had in fact been a witch in a time long ago. "I would imagine that I could see the energy in every living thing, and that if I tried hard enough, I could manipulate it… I made the colors dance."

Alaric waited for her to explain further, and looked down to her hand when she didn't. "Energy, huh? Like you were some kind of clairvoyant, or something?"

The corner of Julien's lips lifted into a half-smile. "Yes, something like that. My favorite thing to do was examine people's auras – to see the difference in each person's soul. No two were ever the same."

The longer she spoke, the more Alaric wondered if this woman had any idea that all the things she spoke of were true. That witches existed, that the energy she imagined was real, that if she had been born into a different family she might have had the chance to experience it for herself.

The wistful look on her face was so heart-wrenching that he almost wanted to tell her. He had no idea what it was about Julien that made him want to see her smile, but he got the feeling that she gave off that effect to everyone, not just him. She seemed like the type of person that others wanted to make happy.

"What color is my aura?"

Julien chuckled quietly, her hand finally stopping as she rested it in her lap. "It isn't that simple," she replied, matching Alaric's position by turning to face him.

"Explain it to me," he shrugged. "We have time. As long as you still don't want to go home."

Julien narrowed her eyes in consideration before offering Alaric her hand. He glanced at it in question, raising his eyebrows. "It's easier to read someone when you have a physical connection," she told him, a teasing grin forming on her face. "Don't worry. I won't bite."

Her little joke calmed Alaric more than she might have thought. It wasn't as if he suspected her of being a vampire, but after living with them for so long he had grown overly-cautious.

Alaric laid his hand in Julien's, wondering silently to himself if it was the cold weather outside that made her palm cool to the touch or if it was just her natural temperature. He watched as she closed her eyes in concentration, breathing deeply for a few seconds before opening them once more.

"An aura is more than one color," she explained quietly, her free hand gliding over his while her eyes followed. "Just as your soul is made of more than one component. You have your personality, your way of thinking, your perception of the world. It all comes together into a rainbow of colors that surrounds you. Some are bright, some are dim. Some are strong, some are weak. There are different shapes, sizes, colors. It's more complicated than just _what color is mine_."

Alaric's eyes lowered from her face to her hand as it slid over his knuckles and towards his wrist. "Your hands are a bright, baby pink. Which means that you're sensitive, and compassionate."

"Your arms are silver," she continued, her fingers trailing after her words. "Which means that you're a natural nurturer. And your mind – " her hand paused at his shoulder, her fingers tapping the side of his head " – is a brilliant yellow, like the sun. It means that you are intelligent, and curious."

A tingle ran down his spine when Julien's hand settled on Alaric's chest, feeling as heavy as led against him though her touch was lighter than a feather. "Despite all of these beautiful things, your heart is clouded by a rich, dark forest green."

"That's a bad thing?" he asked with a light chuckle, though it faded quickly when she continued to frown.

"It means you're unsure of yourself," she explained, her voice low as her fingers drummed absentmindedly against his chest. "You feel as though you have no place here. That you are not good enough, or strong enough. That regardless of your good nature, you do not belong."

Julien removed her hands from Alaric, severing the connection with a deep frown as the colors dissipated before her eyes. When she looked up from where her hand had been on his shirt, Julien saw that Alaric was staring down at her with furrowed eyebrows and his lips parted slightly, confusion plain in his features. She was right, and he knew it.

"How…?"

The emotion in his face was so pure, Julien felt compelled to tell him the truth. To tell him that she had spent a millennia perfecting the art of regaining the tiniest bit of inconsequential magic that required only a clear mind, and not being a witch at all. To tell him that there were evil things in the world. To protect him from those evil things, because she knew that he didn't deserve to suffer at their hands.

But of course, she couldn't. Despite what she had seen, Julien barely knew this man. She couldn't possibly explain to him in one night what she was, or all the things she had seen. That the world was a dark and ugly place, and beg him to preserve his light for there was so little of it left. So instead…

"The internet," she lied with a forced laugh. "You can learn anything if you look hard enough."

Alaric shook his head at her answer, partly because he didn't believe her and partly to clear his own thoughts. "Of course," he agreed, even though he knew he didn't. To try and change the topic off himself for a moment, he asked, "What does your aura look like?"

Julien shrugged, crossing her arms over her stomach. "I wouldn't know. You can't really see your own. Not like other people see it, at least. It's too clouded by our own self-judgement."

"Could you show me how to see it?"

Julien blinked in surprise. "You want me to… show you how to see my aura?"

Alaric nodded, mirroring her earlier movements by holding a hand out to her. Julien hesitated for a moment before taking his hand for the second time that night, almost instantly feeling the connection reestablish.

"Close your eyes," she instructed. "Take a few deep breaths, and imagine that you can still see the world around you."

Alaric did as he was told, keeping his eyes closed as he reconstructed their spot on the bench from memory. The blackness behind his eyes was slowly replaced by the streetlight buzzing above their heads, fireflies flitting past it, the building to their left that had long since turned out their lights, the grass beneath their feet.

"Can you see me?"

It took a moment to picture her. Her dark hair that fell in waves against her back, framing her heart-shaped face. The slope of her nose that turned ever so slightly upwards. Her dark lips. Her grey eyes. Her shoulders that were hidden underneath a black leather jacket, the collar of a deep red shirt poking out underneath. Her hands that were so small they practically fit inside his palm as he held them. Her long legs turned away from him as they sat on the bench, her knee pressed firmly against his due to their close proximity.

"Yes," he finally answered when he was happy with his mental image of her, his voice coming out as a low murmur as he concentrated. His initial intentions had simply been to distract her from his own low self-esteem but as she spoke he found himself actually wanting to see her as she saw him.

"Now I want you to imagine a rainbow. Not the arch you normally see in the sky, but as a film over your eyes. See the world in colors that you hadn't imagined before, colors you might not have known existed."

That was even harder than picturing her, but he was willing to try. First, the seven colors everyone associated with the ordinary rainbow. Red at the top, indigo at the bottom. He tried to plant more colors in between, the shades differing ever so slightly but in ways he imagined were important.

"Assign the colors to objects. They don't have to make sense, they just have to feel like they belong there. Maybe the grass is orange, or the sky is yellow. Whatever feels right to you."

"This is a lot harder than you made it look," Alaric commented with a huff. He wanted to open his eyes when he heard her giggle, but restrained himself. If he broke his concentration now, he doubted he would get it back.

"Finally, assign colors to me – as many as you think belong. You might see them in my head, or my hands. Take your time. Go through every color, and decide if and where it belongs."

"Where do I start?"

"Wherever it feels right."

From the top, then.

Alaric imagined every shade of red he could come up with, placing them on different parts of Julien. They didn't exactly feel wrong, but not exactly right either. So he moved on.

"Green," he told her, seeing it so clearly in his mind he forgot for a moment that his eyes were closed. "Light green, like… like grass." God, he was terrible at analogies. "On the top of your head."

"Good. What else?"

"It's not yellow, it's more… gold. In your hands." He instinctively tightened his hold on her when he said this, the color surrounding her palms seeming to shimmer when he did so.

Gold and green seemed to be the only colors that fit as he ran down the list, until he reached one of the last colors he was considering. It fizzled into being, clouding her chest from view as it sparked insistently around her heart. It looked almost… angry? "Your chest," he explained, his face pinching in confusion. "It's blue, sort of. It looks closer to black. Like those pictures you see of the parts of the ocean we haven't discovered yet."

Julien remained silent as he finished his mental list. He took another moment to admire the colors that danced around her, moving fluidly as she did, before opening his eyes. They didn't disappear immediately, lingering in his imagination. At least until he saw the look on her face.

Her eyes were unfocused, staring over his shoulder. She had pulled her lower lip between her teeth, biting nervously at it. Worried that he had messed something up, Alaric's grip on her hands tightened. "Was that completely wrong?"

Julien seemed to come out of her small trance when he spoke, shaking her head with a plastered-on smile. "No. No, you did very well, Alaric."

He looked as if he didn't completely believe her, but was willing to drop it for now. "So what did the colors mean?"

"Ah, of course," she chuckled, glancing at their intertwined hands as she explained. "The gold you saw represents being wise, and intuitive. The green, balance and unconditional love."

"All good things," he assured her at the flicker of doubt in her eyes. "And the blue?"

Julien hesitated to answer, her mouth opening and closing a few times as if she wasn't quite sure how to phrase her words. "It could mean many things," she settled on finally. "Generally, however, it means fearfulness."

"What are you afraid of?"

Alaric kept his eyes glued to her face as she pulled her hands away from his, sighing through her nose as her lips pressed into a thin line. "Many things."

"Are you going to share with the class?" he asked, repeating his question from earlier in a weak attempt to lighten the mood. Though her lips twitched into a brief smile, her forlorn expression didn't change.

"Perhaps some other time."

With that, she stood from the bench. Alaric copied her motions, standing to face her. He hadn't really noticed it earlier, but the top of her head barely reached his chin – and she was wearing heeled boots. Without them, he doubted she could even clear his shoulders. "There's going to be a next time?"

Julien offered Alaric the brightest smile she could conjure up under the current circumstances, a million thoughts running through her head. He had unwittingly drawn all of her family problems back to the forefront of her mind. She knew that it was time for her to go home… after one more thing.

Alaric remained frozen in place when Julien's cool fingers brushed his jaw, her palm cupping his cheek and her sad eyes focused intently on his as her fake smile dropped into a much softer, more genuine little upturn of her lips. He remained frozen when she pushed herself onto the tips of her toes, barely gaining another inch in height. He remained frozen when her lips landed impossibly lightly on his cheek, amazed he could even feel it with how softly she had kissed him. He remained frozen when her breath tickled his neck, her hand lowering from his face as she took a step back.

"Goodnight, Alaric."

He didn't reply -not quite able to – as she stepped around him. He heard her footsteps thumping lightly against the pavement, growing more distant as she walked further and further away. His chest was heavy with a strange mixture of butterflies and guilt, making him even more exhausted than he had already been that night.

After what seemed like hours later, Alaric finally broke out of his reverie with a deep sigh. He didn't need to turn around to know that Julien was long gone, for better or worse. He also didn't need to look at the phone in his pocket to know that he had stayed out far later than intended, and was going to be dead on his feet tomorrow.

With half of him screaming at himself for not asking Julien when next time would be while the other half wanted to run to Jenna with a mouthful of apologies – though he wasn't quite sure what he would be apologizing for, he just felt like he should – Alaric walked in the opposite direction Julien had disappeared off to, ready to go home and fall asleep. It was the waking up bit that he didn't look forward to.


	3. The Breaking Point

**The Breaking Point**

* * *

It was ridiculous how terrified Julien was. Over one thousand years old, having faced horrors that people these days could never even imagine, being experienced in and with unthinkably terrible torture methods – and she could not even bring herself to open a damned door.

Julien had been standing in front of the door that concealed Elijah for far too long, the next day's sun long since risen, her hands remaining stubbornly by her sides. She had been gone longer than she initially intended, leaving all of her hard feelings towards her brother dissipated into something different. The disappointment in his choices remained firm, while the anger and confusion morphed into resigned understanding followed by a deep, hollowness in her chest… her chest.

Alaric had seen the hollow, the fear. It wasn't something she had talked to anyone about in a long, long time. Her constant worry for the wellbeing of her family – the ones who lay sleeping in coffins and the one who had put them there. It was a constant battle for her to try and justify Niklaus' actions to both others and herself. Though she knew it would be impossible for her to ever not love her brother, that didn't make it any less difficult to like him.

Morally, Julien never imagined that she might agree to any sort of plot against a member of her family. Logically, however…

Julien shook the slightly disturbing thoughts from her head, finally reaching for the door handle. Her fingers had barely brushed the cool metal before the door was pulled open, revealing a boy she had never met before standing in her way. A quick glance over his shoulder showed Elijah laid out on the couch, his arms crossed over his chest with an older man leaning over him.

Before the boy could ask who she was, Julien's hand had wrapped itself around his throat like a vice, her fingers clawing angrily against his skin as she propelled him backwards. The back of his head thudded painfully against the wall opposite the entryway, leaving him momentarily stunned. The man that had been leaning over her brother stood quickly, his wide eyes meeting her dangerously narrowed ones.

"You have two seconds to step away from Elijah, or the boy dies. One, t- "

Julien's words were interrupted by a thick, hacking cough. Her hand that had been around the boy's throat clutched at her own as she was forced to her knees, the man in front of her glaring at her when he recovered from his shock at her sudden entrance. The blood of the last person she fed from spewed from her lips, the fluid being rejected by her system.

"You must be Julien," the man guessed, keeping one hand leveled over her as he reached the other out towards the boy she had just threatened to kill. He waited until the boy had moved to stand behind him before speaking again. "Elijah told me you were protective of your family… Well, so am I."

Julien slammed a trembling fist against the floor as she choked, dropping her forehead into the dent she had caused when breath refused to return to her lungs. Agony rolled over her body in waves as more blood trickled from her lips. It felt like she was drowning.

Her vision had begun to blur from the throbbing pain in her temples when it finally ended. Julien barely managed to keep her elbows locked in place when the warlock released his hold on her, refusing to show any more weakness than she just had. Though the torture had ended, Julien felt the familiar hooks of hunger embedding themselves into her stomach as she stared down at the blood she had lost.

"If you ever come near my son again, I'll come up with something a lot more painful than that to keep you down."

"Duly noted," Julien rasped, raising her head to meet his gaze. She waited until she was back on her feet to speak again, her eyes flashing to Elijah once more. "What did you do to him?"

"A locator spell. He's looking for the Salvatore house."

The knowledge that her brother was safe, simply sleeping off the effects of magic, was of immense comfort to Julien. She had no idea who the Salvatores were, but as long as he wasn't hurting, she needn't worry. She allowed a moment to pass of peace to settle before turning back to the warlock. "It seems I'm at a disadvantage. You know who I am, yet I have no idea who you might be."

The man thinned his lips, still wary of this woman. Though he had seen her visibly relax when he told her that he hadn't hurt Elijah, confirming that she had only attacked his son because she thought her brother to be in danger, he wasn't quite ready to trust her. If he didn't share, however, he was certain Elijah would the second he awoke. "Jonas. This is my son, Luka."

Julien nodded, extending her hand towards the man in a show of good faith. Despite the fact that she had just attempted to murder his son in front of him thirty seconds ago, she held no ill will towards the family. She had only been acting in Elijah's best interests, but if that involved keeping these two alive, she would do that.

Jonas glanced at her hand before glancing at his son and back to her. When he didn't take her hand, she nodded in understanding.

Okay, maybe there was a little bit of resentment there. Julien doubted she would find the time to care.

The room was tense as everyone waited for Elijah to wake up. Jonas had sent Luka on his way, telling him that he ought to get back to school before his lunch break ended. Julien had moved to sit on the edge of the couch, her hand moving to sit restlessly in her lap when Jonas stopped her from running her fingers through Elijah's hair – something about disturbing his concentration.

It seemed like hours before Elijah finally gasped, his eyes shooting open. As his vision cleared from the fog of being in his own mind, his sister sitting by his side came into view. "Julien?"

Julien's response was a bright smile – overjoyed to see that he was unharmed – as her hand cradled his cheek, a content sigh passing through her lips. "Welcome back, brother."

Elijah cupped his hand over Julien's, propping himself onto his elbow. He offered her his own wide smile before turning to Jonas who stood on the other side of the room, his arms locked over his chest. "It worked."

Jonas nodded, looking between the two Originals. His first impression of Julien had been her eagerness to murder his son right in front of him, which certainly didn't leave him with very much confidence in her. The sight before him now – mere minutes later – with a love so true in her eyes as she looked down at Elijah, her entire form leaning protectively over his even now that she knew he was perfectly safe, was entirely different. It didn't make him suddenly want to be her best friend, but he did know that she would do anything to protect her little brother. As long as Elijah was helping him get Greta back, that was a good thing in his eyes.

"Then my work here is done," Jonas finally said, though Elijah had already turned back to his sister. He spared another moment to observe the two before taking his leave, hurrying out of the hotel so that he could catch up to Luka before he got too far.

Neither sibling noticed his abrupt absence. Julien shifted backwards, allowing Elijah to sit up fully. "You gave me quite the scare," she mock-scolded him, her eyes squinted in playful annoyance. "Poor Luka might have paid for it, too, had your friend Jonas not stopped me."

Elijah's back straightened, the happiness that had been plain on his features at Julien's return quickly disintegrating. "Did he hurt you?"

"It was nothing I couldn't handle," she assured him.

Elijah nodded, though his expression remained tense. "I'm sorry that I lied to you," he apologized weakly. "I told myself I was being rational, but that was just another lie. I wasn't being smart – I was afraid."

"Of?"

"I was afraid… I was afraid that you wouldn't choose me. That if it came down to either me or Niklaus, you wouldn't – "

Julien silenced Elijah with a finger against his lips, waiting patiently for him to quiet before tucking it beneath his chin. "My sweet little Eli," she sighed. "It would seem that _I_ am the one who owes _you_ an apology, for failing to show you exactly how much I would do – how far I would fall – if it meant your safety was ensured."

A strange swirling of relief and confusion veiled Elijah's thoughts at her words. "You owe me nothing of the sort."

"But I do." Julien shook her head with a bitter laugh, dropping her hand from Elijah's chin as she averted her eyes to her lap. "I may not always do what makes you happy, my little love, but rest assured that I _will_ always do what is best for you. If you believe nothing else, you must believe that."

It was Elijah's turn to cup Julien's face, bringing her steel gaze to his warm one once more. "Always and forever. I can promise you that."

Julien released a sharp breath resembling a chuckle. Her face was flooded with love as she looked at the man in front of her, utterly taken aback. "When did my baby boy grow into such a strong man?"

A smirk played on Elijah's lips as he shrugged, glad that his sister had returned to her usual self. For the twenty-four hours that she had disappeared he could do nothing but worry. Worry that she had gotten herself into trouble, or done something foolish to ruin his plans. Worry that she wouldn't come back. Worry that she would find Niklaus, and bring him here. He should have known that she was smarter than that.

"It is your support that makes me strong, dear sister," he informed her, taking her hand in his to press a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

Julien tapped her finger against Elijah's nose in response before pulling her hand back, rearranging herself on the couch so that her back rested against it while Elijah moved his feet to the floor. "Jonas said that you were looking for the home of the Salvatores with the help of his locator spell."

"I found it," he confirmed with a nod. Her question was clear in her eyes, and he had no qualms answering it. "The troublesome boys who have taken a liking to our dear doppelganger."

Elijah took his time explaining what he knew of Damon and Stefan Salvatore, Elena Gilbert, Katerina's return, and all the other comings-and-goings of Mystic Falls. Julien listened to his tale intently, soaking in every detail he provided and storing it all carefully away in her memories. She never knew what might be useful to know later, and so she would know it all.

"And what of Rose-Marie?"

"What does she have to do with any of this?"

"She was with the doppelganger, Elena," Julien scoffed. "At the house in Richmond."

Elijah held back a flinch. "You were there. That's how you knew about the doppelganger."

Julien nodded quickly, though in her mind that matter had already been resolved. She had something much different on her mind in that moment. "Yes, but where is she now?"

Elijah caught up to her train of thought, his eyes glazing over in thought as he considered the possibilities. It was most likely that she had run off again to the ends of the earth – especially if she had been spooked by Julien's arrival. "I doubt we need to worry about her," Elijah soothed his sister's worry. "Knowing young Rose, she will have fled far from Mystic Falls and its gang of meddling teenagers by now. What could possibly compel her to stay?"

* * *

What, indeed, but the deadly werewolf venom pumping through her deteriorating veins?

Rose tried to ignore the stabbing pains in her stomach that grew worse with every passing hour. The blood had helped to dull the ache for a while, but she knew that it was only delaying the inevitable. While she was still lucid, she was determined to be of help. She had spent the last 500 years caring for no one but herself and Trevor, and where had that gotten her? If these were to be her last days on earth, she was going to leave her mark on it.

Which was why she had spent the last half hour trying to convince Elena to fight. Siding with Elijah was the obvious answer, the simple answer, but it wouldn't truly solve anything. In the end Elena would still be dead, and her friends would be heartbroken. Klaus would be dead, and Elijah would never forgive himself for killing his own brother. It was a lose-lose situation, and she could only pray to a God she no longer believed in that it wouldn't happen that way.

"You really are determined to die, aren't you? At least I ran. You aren't even trying."

Rose watched as Elena thinned her lips and lowered her eyes. Good. She should be ashamed of her terrible decision making.

Another wave of exhaustion lapped over Rose, her eyes fluttering as she sucked in a deep breath. "I'm so tired," she admitted quietly. She was vaguely aware of Elena removing the glass of blood from her hands before all she saw was the back of her eyelids, Elena standing to leave the room. That was, until…

 _Trevor stepped in front of her, his expression hardening to try and mask his panic. He had distracted the Originals for now with a false lead, but it wouldn't be long before they realized what he had done and came for his blood. "We will make it through this," he promised Rose, closing his hands around hers. "As long as you are with me, I will protect you… you and Katerina."_

 _Rose rolled her eyes with a huff at the mention of the woman who had gotten them into this mess in the first place. Trevor sighed at her reaction. "We have been over this," he chided softly before releasing his hold on her. "I will not leave her behind. Wait here, I'll go fetch her now."_

"No," Rose mumbled from the bed, shifting onto her back. "Tell them to prepare the horses."

Elena turned back as Rose spoke, sighing gently. She hadn't known the vampire a long time, but she wasn't heartless. She wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, let alone a woman who had tried so hard to make up for her mistakes.

"It's okay, Rose," she whispered, stepping towards the side of the bed. "Just get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up."

" _It's okay, Rose," Trevor whispered, returning to her side to lay a hand on her shoulder. "The three of us will be long gone before they ever find us. Elijah has taken his men to the west, while we head east. There is no chance – "_

"She knows!" Rose gasped, her back arching off the bed as her eyes flew open, her voice panicked as she rambled. "Julien always knows! You have heard the legends, seen it for yourself. Nobody threatens him without threatening her. She will never let us live, not after all we have done to betray her trust – her family."

Elena blinked in surprise at how vivid Rose's hallucinations were becoming. Lifting the glass from the nightstand she had set it on, Elena tried to take Rose's hand and press the cup into her palm. "Take this, Rose. You need more blood."

" _She never left home," Trevor assured Rose. "She cannot catch up to us."_

"We will never make it before the sun."

" _Not if you keep on like this, we won't. Take your own advice, Rose, and ready the horses. As soon as I get Katerina, we will be on our way."_

Rose tried to reply to Trevor, but she found her mouth full of a familiar, thick liquid. When she blinked again, she was surprised to see that Trevor had been replaced by Elena. "Swallow it," Elena commanded, and Rose obeyed.

At least, she tried to. The blood barely made it an inch down her throat before it was forced back up, splattering in bright red droplets against Damon's white bed sheets as she choked. "Elena – "

"I'll get some water."

Elena hurried from the bed to Damon's adjoined bathroom, grabbing the white towel by the sink before wetting it. She had been hoping there would be a glass there as well for Rose to drink from since her body had begun to reject the blood, but the towel would have to do for now. If she could just get Rose to fall asleep for a few minutes, she could call Damon and ask for his help figuring this out.

When she returned to the room to press the cool compress to Rose's forehead, Elena found the bed empty. She didn't get the chance to call the woman's name before a floorboard creaked behind her, causing her to pivot on her heel.

Rose had appeared from seemingly nowhere, her eyes black and bloodshot as the veins beneath her eyes pulsed quickly. Her fangs protruded from between her lips as she hissed, gripping Elena's shoulders roughly enough to leave dark purple bruises.

 _Katerina's eyes widened in horror when Rose shoved her against the wall, showing her true face as she shook the young girl._

"This is all your fault, Katerina!"

" _I never intended – "_

"You have led them straight to us," Rose growled. "They will never stop hunting us now – Klaus, Elijah, Julien – all because you were too selfish to die!"

"I'm not Katherine!" Elena insisted, trembling at the thought that Rose would kill her if she couldn't snap her out of this hallucination. "It's me, Elena! I'm not Katherine!"

Recognition slowly spread across Rose's features as they returned to her human face. Her bottom lip quivered slightly, her grip on Elena loosening. "Elena?"

"It's me, it's Elena."

"Elena," Rose gasped, hurrying to drop Elena's shoulders as she backed away. "I'm so sorry. I – I don't know what's happening to me. My mind…"

Elena helped Rose settle back into bed, murmuring words of comfort and forgiveness as she tucked the thick comforter underneath the shivering vampire's chin. Her shoulders throbbed from being held so tightly, but her mind was far from her own discomfort at the moment. On top of having to worry about Rose slowly losing her mind, there was something about what Rose had said that bothered her.

When she mentioned being hunted, it wasn't just Klaus and Elijah that she mentioned. There had been another name – Julien. Though she'd never heard of the woman before, it was clear that Rose was terrified of her. Rose's agonized moans and rapidly blinking eyes told Elena that she wouldn't be getting any answers from her right now, but she made sure to tuck the name away for later questioning.

* * *

"I think it would be best if we kept my affiliation with you a secret," Julien told Elijah when he had finished his full explanation of everything she had missed. He raised his eyebrow in question, so she elaborated. "From what I can tell, these Salvatore boys don't seem to trust you very much – understandably, of course, considering their connection to the doppelganger and her impending death. They won't tell you anything about their inevitable plans to try and stop you."

"They would be fools to try."

"They staked you." Julien's eyes darkened a shade at the mention of Elijah's temporary death. The image of him pinned to a door, his skin ashen and limbs limp, was not something she wanted to remember or allow to happen ever again. "We already know that they're idiots. They also know next to nothing of us if they thought that you were actually dead. It would be logical to assume they know nothing of me either."

Elijah followed Julien's train of thought rather well, nodding slowly. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic about her involvement in his plans, but he knew that she could handle herself better than most. "They might trust you, given the chance."

"Exactly." Julien hesitated for a moment, taking a breath before she spoke again. "I'm not agreeing to help you, I simply think it wise to plan for what may come. I know that it seems sneaky and a bit under-handed, and that isn't usually your style, but it could work. Of course, if you don't think we should, it won't… why are you laughing?"

Elijah, who had pressed his lips tightly together to contain his chuckles, released them in a short burst when she confronted him about it. "Sometimes I wonder if you are too thoughtful to be a Mikaelson," he commented with a shake of his hand. "I don't mind being _sneaky_ in all this, as you so eloquently put it. It might actually be preferred, considering who we're up against. In fact, I spent the better part of yesterday at Elena's house, speaking with her Aunt Jenna."

A switch in the back of Julien's mind flicked on, her eyebrows pinching together. "Jenna?"

"Elena's guardian," Elijah explained. "I told you that her parents died a while back. Jenna has been caring for her and her brother Jeremy ever since."

"Right. Yes, of course." Julien waved her hand dismissively, nodding as if she understood – which she most certainly did not. It wasn't as if Jenna was a completely unique name, but it wasn't exactly common either. Honestly, what were the chances that Elena's Jenna and Alaric's Jenna were different people? Not very high, she assumed.

"You've heard of her before."

Julien scoffed at his observation, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "No, of course not! I've only been in Mystic Falls a day – certainly not long enough to know anyone of any significance. No, I never – I have yet to meet the lovely Miss Jenna."

Elijah simply stared blankly at his sister, unimpressed. "You're not a very good liar."

"I'm not lying," she argued defensively. When Elijah waited calmly for her to continue, she sighed in defeat. It would be hypocritical of her to keep secrets from her when she had been so upset just the previous day for him doing the same. "I haven't met Jenna. I did, however, meet her boyfriend. Technically, not a lie."

"The history teacher," he expanded, choosing to ignore her last comment.

"You have done your research, haven't you?"

Elijah smiled smugly in confirmation. "Nevermind that. What I want to know is where you met Mr. Saltzman."

Julien scratched a nonexistent itch on her cheek, her eyes scanning over the ceiling and walls to actively avoid her brother's. She hadn't even had the time to fully process her night with Alaric for herself. How was she to explain it to her younger brother? "It was only a simple run-in," she said with a delicate shrug of her shoulders. "After our… _disagreement_ yesterday, I found myself in need of a stiff drink. Alaric had similar cravings. I saw him sitting alone at the bar last night, and… well, it simply didn't seem right to leave someone looking so forlorn all on their own. We only spoke for a short time."

"It will always be a wonder to me how your heart has remained so tender after all this time," Elijah sighed, nudging Julien's chin with his knuckle and causing a dimple to appear in her left cheek as she grinned at him in response.

It was a short-lived sight, however. The dimple that Elijah had always considered one of Julien's features that made her appear much younger than she truly was, especially considering she was the second eldest of the Mikaelson children, was soon replaced by a frown as she remembered what she and Elijah were talking about.

When she had spoken to Alaric only a few hours ago, she hadn't gotten the impression that he knew anything about the supernatural. Even when she had mentioned her affinity for magic, he had played it off as if it was only a childish fantasy. Did he know that Elena was a doppelganger? Did he know that the men she associated herself with were creatures of the night? Could it be possible for him to know of vampires and doppelgangers without knowing of witches?

"Just how is Alaric involved with the Salvatores?"

Elijah paused a moment before dropping his hand from Julien's chin with a sigh. "It seems there is still much for me to explain. Shall I make drinks?"

* * *

Julien was… conflicted.

It had been hours since her conversation with Elijah, and she still was unsure of how she felt about the situation she found herself woven into. She stood now at the edge of the balcony attached to their hotel room, a glass of red wine held loosely between her fingers as her glazed eyes stared unseeingly at the Virginia night sky.

Elena Gilbert – the self-sacrificing doppelganger – had struck a deal with Elijah to protect her friends in exchange for her lying in wait. While she simply lived her mundane life, Niklaus would no doubt track her down and come running to Mystic Falls, where he would encounter the rest of the gang.

Damon and Stefan Salvatore – the two vampires who had unwittingly found themselves at the very top of Julien's hit list by daring to lay a hand on her little Eli – were to continue serving as her friends and protectors as Elena lured Niklaus out of hiding, instead of their heads adorning spikes as she would have much preferred.

Alaric Saltzman – the man she had felt a spark of kinship with, whom she had been so bold as to place a sweet, chaste kiss on his cheek at the end of their night together – was a vampire hunter. She had shared her fears with him. She had spoken at length of her familial struggles, of her hopes and her dismay. And he wanted her dead, along with her family.

Julien felt the familiar tug in her gut that told her these people needed to die – to suffer at her unforgiving hands. They wished harm upon Niklaus, which meant they in turn wished harm upon her. They would die slowly, painfully, and she would revel in every second of their demise.

Except she had been asked to ignore this pull. For not only did these strangers wish death upon Niklaus, but so did Elijah.

Elijah – her precious little Eli, who she had forever been convinced could do no wrong in her eyes – would stand at the head of the army that faced Niklaus upon his arrival in Mystic Falls. And he had asked for her stand at his side while he did so.

Yes, Julien was indeed conflicted.

The aged wine slithered smoothly down her throat as she drank more than might have been socially acceptable had she been in public. Alas, she was not. Which led her to drink, and drink, and drink, until the bottle would pour no more of the sweet liquid into her glass. With a frustrated groan, she went briefly to the kitchen before returning to the balcony with a new bottle in hand.

She had just managed to pull the cork out when she heard an irritatingly sympathetic voice from the doors she thought she had closed.

"And here I was thinking you had always preferred the sweeter taste of white wine."

"Actually, I prefer a living brother as opposed to a murdered one," she snapped over her shoulder in response.

Elijah chose not to reply to her comment, instead focusing on the fact that she had wobbled slightly on her feet in her attempt to step closer to the railing and further away from him. He glanced briefly at the table tucked against the corner of the balcony, taking note of the fact that the bottle she drank from now was one of four.

" _Always and forever_ ," Julien scoffed, causing Elijah's gaze to once again land on the rigid muscles in her back. Her tone was bitter and sarcastic as she poured the wine into her glass, ignoring the drops that splashed onto her wrist. " _Family above all_. What a load of rubbish that turned out to be. Half our supposed _family_ rots in pine boxes while the few that remain have turned from squabbling to fighting to the death."

Elijah's heart thrummed painfully in his chest at her words. He struggled to keep his features composed, though he wasn't sure whether he wanted to scream or cry as she insulted the oath they made over a thousand years ago. "Once Niklaus is dealt with, I won't stop until I have found Finn, Rebekah, and Kol. We'll be a family again."

"No we won't," Julien spit harshly, finally turning to face him. Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared, her lips curled away from her teeth in a snarl. "We will _never_ be a family again. Don't you see, Elijah? We were doomed from the very beginning!" Her face morphed into a strange grin, one that portrayed glee despite the wetness in her eyes as she laughed loudly.

"From the moment our _wretched_ father first impregnated our naïve mother, we were all doomed! Finn hates what we are," she began, counting on her fingers the tragedies they had endured. "Kol lost his mind when his magic was stripped from him. Rebekah is too obsessed with the idea of love to accept that she will never be human. Niklaus has become a monster in his search for the cure to his curse. You are so intent on saving your ideals of family that you're willing to murder one of your own blood to do so. And all while I simply sit idly by, allowing our ranks to crumble! I told you that I would do anything for you, and the fact that I am even considering harming... We have all failed each other, in more ways than one. I promised to protect our family, and I have _failed_ , Elijah. For that I am so, _so sorry._ "

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, silence befell the space between siblings. Both were all too vulnerable in that moment – Elijah from hearing what his sister truly thought of his plans, and Julien from the alcohol that had flooded her system. It shouldn't have been surprising to either of them when the other began to cry, but it had been so long since either of them had allowed themselves to be weak.

"Sometimes I'm glad that Freya and Henrik never lived to see what this family would become."

Julien's whispered words startled Elijah to the point of paralyzing him in place. Never before had he heard such... such _defeat_.

At a speed too quick for human eyes to see, Elijah had rushed forward and pulled Julien tightly against his chest. Though she usually refused to be consoled by her younger siblings that she felt obligated to protect, she offered no resistance as he brushed his hands gently over her head.

Not another word as spoken that night between the siblings, as there were simply no words to be said. Julien's arms wrapped as tightly around Elijah's waist as his had around her shoulders, offering him as much love and comfort as he did for her. Although her decision on whether or not she would agree to aid Elijah in his plans went unspoken, they both knew from the moment that transpired between them that night what she had decided.

That night, Julien Mikaelson decided to kill her brother.

* * *

 **Slightly shorter than the other two, but I didn't want to drag this on for numbers sake – I thought that would be the best place to end it.**

 **I apologize for the wait: school and work, yada yada yada. You've all heard it before, you know how it goes. I should have chapter four out much sooner than this one.**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Was anybody OOC, too much angst/fluff? Do you want to see more Elijah/Julien, more Alaric/Julien? Who do you want her to meet next? What will Elena do with her recently acquired information? I want to know what you think!**

 **Also, to the reviewer, Mai, asking if I have a face claim for Julien – I do! Just like in the picture of the story, I see Julien as the beautiful Miss Lily Collins.**


	4. The Truth

**The Truth**

* * *

Elena paced in her empty living room, glancing occasionally at the front door as she waited for Damon to arrive. She had called him immediately after John left to tell him that he had returned, so he should be here any minute. There was so much bouncing around in her head that she had wanted to talk to him about, especially considering she hadn't had the chance to since Rose died.

A part of her felt guilty for discussing this with Damon instead of Stefan, but he hadn't answered her phone calls this morning so it wasn't really her fault… right? Maybe she should have sent him a text explaining the importance of the situation… No. No, he was probably busy with something else right now. Besides, he had always liked John. It was better to talk to Damon about this.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, there was a knock at the door. Glad that she didn't have to be alone with her worries anymore, Elena hurried to open the door.

Damon had barely set a foot inside the house before he was searching the lower floor, completely brushing past Elena. "Where's John?"

"He's not here," she sighed, closing the door before crossing her arms over her chest. "He left. I don't know where he went. He just blew in, announced to Jenna that he's my dad and then took off."

"That's public knowledge now?"

"Apparently. But that's not exactly why I called you over here."

Damon raised a skeptical eyebrow, attempting as he so often did to read Elena's face. "What, you mean there's more to this little house call than deciphering the motives of daddy-not-so-dearest?"

"Yes," Elena answered plainly, choosing to ignore the sarcasm behind Damon's question. "The other day, when I was with Rose – "

"Okay, no," Damon interrupted, rolling his eyes. "We are _not_ talking about Rose. I know you all expect me to have these deep, dark feelings about her dying, but I just _don't_ , okay? If you want to cry over somebody you knew for twenty minutes then be my guest, but don't get mad at me for being the reasonable one."

Elena pressed her lips into a thin line, her arms over her chest squeezing tighter at his assumption that she was going to scold him. Of course she had planned on it later, but for now he was just being obnoxious. "Are you done?"

After taking a moment to scrutinize Elena's posture and ensure she wasn't going to go on a tirade about how he should have more _feelings_ and _communication skills_ , Damon nodded.

"The other day when I was with Rose, she mentioned someone – someone I had never heard of before," Elena explained, glancing over her shoulder when she stepped closer to Damon as if the woman might spear out of thin air when she spoke her name. "She was saying something about being hunted by a woman named Julien."

"So what? Rose and Trevor practically had half the vampires in Europe hunting them."

"This was different," Elena insisted with a vehement shake of her head. "Damon you didn't see her face – she was _terrified_ of this woman. She said that they had betrayed her trust and her family, but the way she said it… I think she's another Original."

Damon's entire body tensed, his eyes widening slightly as he looked down at Elena. "What did she say _exactly_?"

Elena shook her head once more, tucking the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. "She wasn't making much sense, but she said something about Klaus, Elijah and Julien hunting her, Trevor and Katherine because Katherine was too selfish to die."

"All of this happened because Katherine was _selfish_? Why am I not surprised?" Damon chuckled humorlessly, running his hands over his face as he released a puff of air, shaking his head in a manner that screamed ' _why me?'_. "So, great. Now do we not only have to deal with Invisi-Klaus and Zomb-Elijah coming for your blood, but a _third_ mystery Original? Fantastic. I was starting to get bored."

"Can you please be serious?"

"I'm _always_ serious."

Elena gave him a look that clearly showed how much she didn't believe that statement, to which his only response was a shrug. "Whatever. So, what are we supposed to do about this?"

"Considering we have no idea who this Julien chick is, what she looks like, or if she's even still around, my vote would be to do nothing. For now," Damon clarified when Elena narrowed her eyes at him. "As for your daddy issues, we _do_ know who he is, what he looks like, so on and so forth. So why don't we go have a quick chat with Father of the Year?"

" _Just_ a chat?"

"C'mon Elena. I'm the _good guy_ now, remember? You can even come with me, if it makes you feel better."

Elena stood still while Damon inched his way closer to the door, holding his arms out in invitation. It wasn't until he shrugged and pulled the door open that she relented with a sigh, stomping after him. "All right, all right. I'm coming."

* * *

"Ric!"

Alaric jumped in his seat, his eyes shooting up from staring lazily at the bubbles in his glass to see Jenna glaring at him. Groaning, he rubbed at his tired eyes that he was having trouble keeping open. "I'm sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night. You were saying something about John and Elena?"

Jenna pursed her lips for a moment before wiping the look completely from her face, stirring her drink with the thin black straw. "I just can't believe it," she sighed. "Elena is my sister's husband's brother's daughter, and her mother is my boyfriend's deceased wife. I mean, you can't make this stuff up."

"Yeah, it's, uh… definitely a little overwhelming."

"I can't believe that they kept it a secret! How is it even possible to keep a secret like that?"

Alaric shook his head and shrugged, mentally slapping a hand over his own mouth to keep himself from screaming that he currently held an even bigger secret from her. In his internal shushing, his eyes had managed to drift back to his drink and away from an increasingly irritated Jenna.

"Maybe keeping secrets isn't as hard as I think," Jenna scoffed as she observed Alaric, partly to herself though it was certainly enough to catch his attention. Before he had the chance to apologize yet again, Jenna stood from her seat. "I need to run to the bathroom. Maybe you should actually drink your soda instead of staring at it. It might help you wake up."

"Jenna, I didn't mean to…" His words had grown quiet as she walked away, and were followed by a low groan of annoyance. After seeing Jenna for a total of five minutes over the past week, Alaric had been determined to have a nice lunch with her today, but of course he had screwed it up since he had been up all night researching Original vampires. He hadn't even found anything worthwhile for his troubles.

Alaric massaged his temples, his eyes sliding closed with his head in his hands. It had been a long week, and right now he wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed at his apartment and take a much deserved nap.

That was when he heard it.

 _That_ voice – the voice that had haunted his dreams for the past several nights, always accompanied by the most striking eyes he had ever seen and the fuzzy image of a woman he had met in a bar. The voice that had taught him how to see the world in a way he had never seen it before. The voice that had whispered farewell in his ear at the end of a night he couldn't be sure whether or not he had imagined. The voice that slipped through the very same lips that had pressed so softly against his stubbled cheek it had felt like nothing more than the lightest breeze.

The proof that the night in question did in fact exist stood before him when he turned to his left and saw her standing there, so different and yet so similar to how his fuzzy memories had captured her. Her smile was one of her features that he had remembered perfectly – especially how infectious it was. Despite his current mood, he couldn't help but reflect it back to her.

"We really must stop meeting like this, you know."

* * *

It hadn't taken very long for Julien to completely deplete Elijah's supply of alcohol. He hadn't exactly stocked up with the consideration that his sister would become a borderline alcohol within the span of a few days, after all. When he had gently suggested that perhaps she pace herself, Julien had taken up the habit of simply leaving the hotel to drink elsewhere. It wasn't as if she was needed in that stuffy living room, anyway.

" _I don't want you to worry about anything_ ," Elijah had said to her when she asked how exactly he planned for her to participate in taking down Niklaus. _"As of right now, all the pieces are falling into place on their own. Why don't you just take some time to enjoy yourself, hmm?"_

Yes, but of course. Julien's only instructions were to _enjoy herself._ How hard could it be really, with the impending downfall of her family and whatever shreds remained of her fragile humanity?

Julien was not known as the type of person to laze around, with no present or future goals. Which was why the moment she stepped foot inside the Mystic Grill that bright and sunny afternoon to yet again drown her sorrows in alcohol that would be burned out of her system faster than she could drink it and spotted a familiar face among the crowd, the first genuine smile she had worn in days lit up her features.

Apart from a few spared glances, Julien went largely ignored by the crowd in the Grill as she worked her way through messily placed tables and shuffling guests. She took a moment to observe the way Alaric rubbed his hands over his face before dropping them against the table with an audible _smack_ , though why he seemed upset was beyond her. Perhaps she could help him to take his mind off of it, however. It was at least worth a shot. Besides, she had done it once before.

Bending slightly at the waist to ensure she would be heard of the murmurs of the crowd, Julien joked, "We really must stop meeting like this, you know."

Alaric's back straightened reflexively as he turned towards her, and Julien's smile only grew when he offered her one of his own. He stood as he spoke to her, his hand floundering awkwardly in front of himself as he was unsure of what to do with it. "Julien, hi. I didn't expect – I mean, you weren't really supposed to – not that you can't… Hi."

Julien arched her brow in question to his unsure tone, chuckling nervously. She took his hand in hers to spare him the effort of trying to decide whether he should shake hers or not, though her fingers lingered a tad longer around his than they probably should have.

"Hi," she greeted, averting her eyes from his momentarily. "I'm not staying for long, I just saw you sitting here all by yourself and – well, considering what happened the last time I saw you in here alone, I thought I should at least check on you. Make sure you aren't getting yourself into any more trouble."

"Nope, no trouble here," Alaric replied quickly, though his incredibly long and terrifying mental checklist of exactly what might go wrong for him and his friends at any moment seemed to grow longer with each passing minute. "And I'm not alone, Jenna was just… _Jenna_."

In the blink of an eye Alaric had tugged his hand out of Julien's grip and turned his back on her. The Original vampire lowered her hand to her side as the confusion etched into her features faded into understanding. "You aren't alone," she surmised, taking a small step away from Alaric when he turned back to her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed… Well, nevermind all that. I just wanted the chance to apologize for my behavior the other night."

"Apologize? You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"Yes, I do. It was irresponsible for me to keep you out so late when you had someone waiting for you at home. Not to mention the kiss, which again, I do apologize for profusely. I'd had quite a bit to drink that night – we both did – but that's no excuse for me being so inconsiderate."

Alaric shook his head as Julien opened and closed her mouth, the words on the tip of her tongue struggling to come out. He wanted to tell her that he had long since forgiven her, not that he thought there was anything to forgive. He wasn't given the chance, however, when he felt a hand press against his lower back.

Julien had seen her first, her eyes drifting to the strawberry blonde woman when she laid a hand on Alaric. Even if Alaric didn't stutter her name nervously, waving his hand between the newcomer and herself distractedly, Julien would have known instantly who she was.

One again, Julien saved Alaric from his own clumsiness by stepping forward and flashing the woman her best and brightest smile as she offered her hand. "You must be Jenna! Alaric has told me so much about you. I must say, you are even lovelier than his words had suggested."

Jenna looked skeptically between Alaric and the woman she had never met before accepting her handshake with a polite smile. "Uh, yeah… I'm so sorry, I don't think he's ever mentioned you."

"No, I wouldn't imagine so," Julien answered with practiced ease. This wasn't exactly how she had hoped her second encounter with Alaric would go, and she certainly wasn't in any mood to play games at the moment. "Julien. Wonderful to meet you. I really only popped in to say hello, I can't stay all that long."

"That would probably be for the best," Alaric agreed with a frantic nod of his head, though his words were drowned out by Jenna's when she proclaimed, "Nonsense! I never get to meet any of Ric's friends. I was seriously starting to doubt he even had any."

While Julien and Alaric shared a look, both at a bit of a loss as to how they should handle this, Jenna glanced towards the entrance of the Grill and managed to inadvertently save them from replying when she sighed. "Oh my god."

John Gilbert sauntered up to the three with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a nervous grin pulled tightly across his lips. "Hey, Jenna. Alaric…" He trailed off when his eyes landed on the third member of the group, his eyebrows furrowing. "I'm sorry, and you are?"

"Just leaving," Julien answered hastily, offering a polite smile as she took a step back. "It was nice to meet you Jenna, truly. Nice to see you again, Alaric."

"Oh, do you really have to leave so soon, Julien?" Jenna asked, reaching forward to lay a hand on her arm. "You just got here, and I can already tell you would be much more pleasant company than _some people._ "

John ignored the clear jibe at his expense, instead focusing on the name Jenna had just said. "Julien," he repeated in question, his eyes narrowing slightly. He had heard that name before, and not under the best of circumstances. "That's an… interesting name."

"It's Viking," Alaric chimed in, as if to remind the others that he was still there – though truthfully now he wished he was anywhere but. The largest response he got was an odd look from Jenna, to which he only shrugged with an incoherent mumble.

"John, buddy! How you been?"

"Oh dear god," Julien muttered under her breath, massaging her forehead as even more people joined the ever-growing group of misfits standing in the middle of the Mystic Grill. She honestly had only wanted to say hello to Alaric before returning to the spot in the woods she had visited days ago to meditate in, but somehow she had been roped into introducing herself to seemingly the entire town.

"I've been all right, Damon," John greeted the dark-haired newcomer with a tense smile. "It's good to see you."

"Good to know." Damon patted his shoulder roughly before turning to the one person he didn't recognize. "My, my, my. And who might this lovely lady be?"

Julien lowered her hand back to her side to answer him, but froze when she saw the girl standing next to him. Not wanting to give away her surprise, she covered her mouth and coughed to buy herself some time.

"I guess introductions are due all around," Jenna answered in her place. "This is John, Damon, and Elena. Guys, this is Alaric's friend Julien."

There were no words to describe the wave of tension that descended upon the room like a tidal wave. Muscles tensed and glares locked. For one, singular moment, the silence was so thick the world's sharpest knife would have been unable to slice through it. And not a single one of them was unaware of it.

It was Julien who finally worked up the courage to speak, her tone as pleasant as her eyes were full of spite. "An absolute pleasure to meet each and every one of you, but I really must be on my way. I'm sure we'll see each other again very soon."

They all watched as she turned on her heel and walked out of the Mystic Grill, each step radiating confidence. It was a completely different tone than their first impression of her – as if she had suddenly developed a new personality. To the three who knew what she truly was, it was almost intimidating to know that she was there, that she knew who they were, and that she didn't seem at all afraid of them.

Damon was the second to speak, gripping Alaric's wrist and dragging him towards the back as he said, "We need to talk."

* * *

Elijah was not easily startled, but when Julien came storming into their hotel room with the door slammed behind herself and her bag thrown haphazardly onto the island counter before she tangled her fingers into her hair, he couldn't help but jump a bit from his seat on the couch.

"Should I ask what happened, or…?"

"I saw him."

"Him… who?"

If looks could kill, Elijah would have been buried six hundred feet below the ground when she shot him a glare so fierce he couldn't help but wonder if it was truly his kind and gentle sister standing before him. "That moronic, sniveling, sad little excuse for a man. _Damon Salvatore._ " She said his name with such disgust, her face visibly crumpled as if she had been sprayed with a skunk.

Elijah slowly pushed himself to his feet, thousands of tiny gears turning in his head. "Did he know who you were?"

"One can only hope," she scoffed, kicking her shoes off so hard they landed with a _thump_ against the wall on the other side of the room. "That way he'll know exactly who is ripping his spine out through his mouth."

"Julien."

"How could he have possibly recognized me, Elijah? Of course, he didn't! But do you have any idea the amount of restraint it took for me to not pluck those shifty little eyes right out of their sockets the moment his cursed name slithered out from that Sommers woman's lips? I'll tell you – _too much_!"

"Wait, slow down," Elijah pleaded, walking forward to cup his sister's shoulders between his large hands. "What Sommers woman?"

"Jenna, obviously. Do keep up, Elijah, it will very difficult to rant about a terrible experience if you're not going to bother to listen to what it is I'm saying."

Elijah took a moment to close his eyes and collect himself before speaking again, taking a few deep breaths for good measure. "Julien, I need you to listen very carefully to what I am saying to you. I understand your thirst for the Salvatore's blood – I really and truly do – but it is imperative that you leave him alive. Is that clear?"

"If it wasn't, do you think his head wouldn't be adorning a lovely spike in my bedroom right at this very moment? Honestly, Elijah, what do you take me for – some type of petulant child?"

"Of course not, dear sister," he sighed, relieved. "So, you met Damon and Jenna. Were there any other unexpected visitors on your trip outside today?"

Julien once again ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head vehemently as she moved around Elijah towards the refrigerator. "I don't even know where to begin. All I wanted was a nice relaxing day in the woods after all this – this – this _nastiness_ invading my life, and what do I get? Some infant vampire _smirking_ at me, a pouting doppelganger, and some man with the constant sulk on his face as if he is about to lose his lunch! Do we have any vodka left?"

"I'm afraid you finished off the last of it during your night on the balcony."

"Well I can't very well make a bloody mary without any vodka," she grumbled, slamming the door and crossing her arms over her chest. "I swear, I haven't felt this emotional since that incident with the de Martels. I should never have come to this damned city."

Elijah waited patiently for Julien to cease her rambling before joining her in the kitchen. He wanted to ask her more about her meeting with Damon and the doppelganger, but decided now was not the time to press her. "Nobody is keeping you here, 'Lien. You are free to leave any time you choose. I only ask that you stay away from Niklaus until this dispute is resolved."

"No," Julien sighed, lifting her eyes to meet Elijah's as she dropped her arms. "I agreed to help you resolve this, and I will. I've been acting like a child, and I apologize. It is just… very difficult for me to allow somebody who harmed you to continue their meaningless life."

"The Salvatores' time will come," he assured her, to which she nodded firmly. "I'll even let you kill them."

For the first time since she had come storming into the room, Julien chuckled as a small smile lifted her lips. "You say that as if you have any choice in the matter."

Elijah only smiled in response, tucking a loose strand of Julien's hair behind her ear before pulling her into a hug. She immediately returned the gesture, pressing a kiss to his cheek before laying her head on his shoulder. "All those who have harmed our family will face justice," he murmured reassuringly against the top of her head. "I swear it. There is no force in the universe greater than you and I."

If Elijah could have seen Julien's face, he would have seen the flicker of doubt that crossed her delicate features – the remorse in her eyes and the sadness in her frown. There was no doubt in the world that she loved her little Eli more than her own life… but did she love him enough to betray her poor, abused Niklaus? She had promised to side with him, but when that time came, would she truly be able to uphold her end of the bargain?

No matter her convictions either way – no matter how strongly she insisted to both Elijah and herself that she would always take his side – somewhere deep inside, Julien knew the truth.

* * *

 **A little shorter than usual, but I really wanted to get something out for you guys.**

 **Next chapter we'll see some more interaction between Julien and the Mystic Falls gang, as well as the reunion with Alaric when he actually knows who she is. I hope you're all as excited as I am! Stay tuned, and let me know what you think of the story so far in a review down below.**


	5. The Threat

**The Threat**

* * *

"You must be joking."

"You haven't left this room in almost three days," Elijah explained when Julien rolled her head to the side specifically so he would see her rolling her eyes at him. "I want you to enjoy yourself. Seeing as Mystic Falls has already been alerted to your presence, I see no reason why you should remain pouting in here for the remainder of our stay."

"I am not pouting," Julien argued, though the purse of her lips and the whine in her tone would beg to differ. "I've only stayed here because if I see _he who shall not be named_ again, I don't think I'll be able to resist flaying him in the middle of the town square. Besides, I thought you wanted our connection to remain a secret?"

Elijah shrugged, confident that Julien's loyalty to him far outweighed her thirst for revenge. Semi-confident. Hopeful, at the very least. "I believe that cover was blown the moment you were spotted. As foolish as these people are, they aren't so idiotic as to believe our arrivals are merely coincidental. Especially considering their friendship with Rose-Marie – no matter how temporary. And I thought you enjoyed tea parties?"

"I think you're confusing me with our other sister. Though it has been quite some time since I've had a nice warm cup of tea. Everyone around here adds ice. Who in their right mind enjoys _cold_ tea?"

"Then you'll come?"

Julien sighed before she answered, "I suppose. Though I'm still not sure why exactly you're so insistent on me attending this farce."

Elijah merely offered Julien a cryptic smile before informing her that the festivities were to begin within the hour. "Cocktail attire – or whatever these people consider that to be. And do something with your hair, would you? It looks like a bird is currently renovating its nest."

If Elijah wasn't so quick to exit the room after that, the harsh _thunk_ of a shoe hitting the door would have been far less amusing.

* * *

It took a little more persuasion for Elijah to convince Julien to make it all the way to the Lockwood's home, but the moment her foot touched the ground outside the car, her sullen demeanor suddenly shifted.

With a smile so dazzling it put the sun to shame firmly in place, Julien reveled in the confidence she felt walking towards the stairs leading up to the home. Though she found little time in her day-to-day life for simply enjoying herself, she had always thrived when given the chance in a party setting. She had played the part of a royal for decades, after all.

Though Elijah's hand tucked in the crook of her elbow would suggest that he was escorting her, Julien's bravado shone through. At least it did to Carol Lockwood, who stood at the open front door to greet her incoming guests.

"Elijah," she said with her practiced-and-perfected picturesque smile, offering her hand for him to shake. "I'm so glad you decided to come after all. And I see you've brought a friend as well."

"Yes, well I thought it might be rather embarrassing to show up to such an event without a date," Elijah joked as he released Carol's hand, motioning towards Julien. "Carol, this lovely woman is Julien Michel, a dear friend of mine. Julien, this is – "

"Carol Lockwood," Julien interrupted, leaning forward as she shook the woman's hand. "A pleasure. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you from Eli."

Carol laughed politely, waving her hand dismissively as if to say _oh, stop it_. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you as well. As much as I do love this doorway, I think this conversation would best be continued inside. Come on in, I'll show you where the rest of the guests have gathered."

A small weight lifted from the vampires' shoulders as they passed through the front door, unhindered. "You have such a lovely home," Julien complimented as she and Elijah followed behind the temporary mayor.

"Oh, thank you! I recently had the foyer redecorated. I've been thinking about changing the flooring in the parlor, but it's simply impossible to choose between birch and cherry oak. The walls are cream with white furniture, which makes Tyler – my son – think any color will do, but what do teenage boys know of interior decorating, really? Of course, that furniture has been around for nearly a decade now, so perhaps I should just redo the entire room. Although, if I do that, I doubt I'll be able to keep myself from renovating the entire house!"

Julien glanced at Elijah from the corner of her eye as Carol rambled and saw that the polite smile on his face hadn't dropped the slightest bit. Ever the gentleman, he was. "I'm impressed that you find such time to dedicate to your home," she mentioned casually. "Especially considering your political duties, as well as parental. You truly are a woman of all trades."

"I wouldn't say that," Carol said in such a way that conveyed just the opposite. Julien chose to ignore this fact, rather than point it out and make a fool of herself. She had a persona to uphold.

"I'll have to mention you in my writing," Elijah said as they entered the living room, looking around at all the people who had gathered in the area. "Such talent deserves recognition."

"I would be absolutely flattered! Speaking of your writing, have you spent much time in Richmond for your book?"

"Oh, no," Elijah replied with a small shake of his head. "I'm focusing mostly on the smaller regions of Virginia. Mostly history, lots of research. Strictly academic."

"That's fascinating."

"You don't have to lie to him, Carol," Julien chuckled, gently slapping a hand against her "old friend's" chest. "Eli has been told he's a boring old stiff far too many times to be offended by it now."

As Carol opened her mouth to open, her eye was caught by a figure approaching her side. When she turned to see who was interrupting her conversation, she was pleasantly surprised, as shown by the first genuine smile that day brightening her features. "Damon!"

If it was possible, Julien would have thought her blood had literally come to a boil as the arrogant baby vampire came sauntering up to their little group. "Carol."

"What a surprise," Carol laughed lightly. "Oh! Elijah, Julien, I'd like you two to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of Mystic Falls' Founding Families."

"Mm-hmm," Damon hummed as he looked the two vampires up and down. The fact that the two had come together was just further proof to the theory that Julien was also an Original, meaning he had been right to warn Stefan and the others about her. "Such a pleasure to meet you, Elijah. But I believe I've seen you before, haven't I?"

Julien bristled at the question directed towards her, especially since it caused Carol to look towards her with apparent curiosity. Elijah took a subtle step closer to her, placing his hand over the one she had on his elbow in clear warning. _Now is not the time._ It wasn't necessary.

"Yes, I do believe we have crossed paths," Julien answered with a smile that not even Elijah would have thought to be disingenuous had he not known her true feelings towards the man. "Weren't you the one at the Mystic Grill the other night who had that blonde woman throw a drink in your face? Terrible manners she had, that one."

While Elijah and Carol looked amused, Damon was clearly anything but if the clench of his jaw was any indication. Still, his grin remained in place. "Well, you win some you lose some."

"Words to live by," Julien agreed. She patted Elijah's hand then before pulling away from his side. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a short trip to the ladies' room."

Elijah bent down slightly to place a kiss on Julien's cheek before she left – a gesture that she returned by squeezing his shoulder. "Don't wander off too far," he called to her with a teasing smile, though his gaze was serious. At least she shouldn't cause too much trouble as long as the Salvatore boy remained close to him and far away from her.

"I should be going too," Carol sighed lightly. "So many people to mingle with, so little time."

Which left Elijah and Damon locked in a staring contest, each wearing a false grin with hatred in their eyes. "I didn't realize you and Mayor Lockwood were so close," Elijah mentioned casually. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

Damon's first instinct was to warn Elijah not to threaten him, but instead he swallowed those words. "I didn't realize you and Julien were so close," he repeated instead. "I'll have to keep _that_ in mind."

For the first time that day, Elijah's smile disappeared completely. Damon had to keep himself from taking a step back when the Original moved uncomfortably close, just tall enough to be intimidating as he looked down on him. "Let me make something very clear to you, here and now. You are not to speak to Julien. You are not to _think_ of Julien. You are not even going to _look_ at Julien. Is that understood?"

Instead of answering, Damon simply motioned towards the closed study doors that offered a sense of privacy. "Maybe we should take this conversation elsewhere? I have a few things I'd like to explain to you as well."

Elijah chuckled mirthlessly, smirking at Damon before nodding for him to lead the way. This talk should prove interesting, at the very least.

* * *

Meanwhile, Julien had taken great interest in the buffet table set up in the parlor. As she plopped a grape in her mouth that she imagined was Damon's head when it popped between her teeth, she looked towards the floor with mild interest. Cherry oak would definitely be the better choice of flooring in here. Birch would simply wash the entire room out, obviously. The Lockwood woman clearly had no idea what she was talking about.

"Well, well. If it isn't Elijah's little puppet."

Julien tensed at the words, turning to see who had dare spoken them. John Gilbert stood close behind her, his hands shoved into his pockets as he smirked at her. "I have to say," he continued, stepping leisurely around her to lift a grape from the same tray she had been eating off of. "I'm rather disappointed. Katherine seemed rather convinced that you had the most influence of the Originals, but so far you've failed to impress."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing that I'm not here to impress you, then."

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully, twisting the grape between his fingers before dropping it back onto the table. "And why exactly are you here?"

"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to think that I'll simply allow you to speak to me in such a manner," Julien laughed quietly.

"Considering your track record of letting people walk all over you, I wouldn't really consider myself very brave at all."

All amusement drained from Julien's features as her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why I'm here is absolutely none of your business, you insignificant little boy. And I highly suggest you speak to me with a little more respect, if you must at all."

"Your business becomes my business when it involves my daughter," John disagreed. "You and Elijah need to stay away from Elena. Feel free to take the Salvatore's as a consolation prize."

"Tempting offer," Julien admitted. It really was for her, seeing as she truly wanted no part of the doppelganger business in the first place. She only wanted revenge on the Salvatores for hurting Elijah. But what she wanted right now didn't matter. "Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be accepting your white flag today. Now run along, before I decide to pay your vampire girlfriend a visit. What was her name again?"

John's confidence had disappeared in a second, replaced entirely by indignation as he stepped even closer to her. "You stay away from Isobel, or I swear to – "

"That's enough, John."

John's anger only seemed to flare when Alaric placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're seriously going to defend her?"

Alaric glanced at a blank-faced Julien before returning his steely gaze to John. "I'm not defending her. I'm stopping you from making a fool out of yourself. This isn't the time or place for a confrontation."

"She threatened Isobel," John whisper-yelled, turning more than one head in his direction. "Does that not matter to you anymore?"

Though Alaric's jaw twitched, his stance didn't change. "Go home, John."

John stared at Alaric a moment longer before turning his burning glare to the Original who easily returned the look. "Nobody threatens my family," he warned, only loud enough for her to hear.

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

There was a flicker of confusion behind the fury, but it died quickly after as John pivoted on his heel to brush past Alaric and towards the front door. Julien watched him go until he was completely out of her sight before turning to her savior. If she had any questions before about what their relationship was, the look on his face answered all of them. Still, it wasn't as if she had lost all sense of her manners. "Thank you."

"Don't," Alaric said tensely. "Don't pretend that we're still friends – that we were _ever_ friends."

"Well that hardly seems fair."

" _Fair_?" Alaric scoffed, shaking his head. "None of this is fair. You lied to me, pretended to be something you're clearly not. And for what? To get closer to Elena? How long did you think that would last?"

"I didn't lie to you," Julien argued. When Alaric rolled his eyes, she sighed and rephrased. "Okay, I lied to you. But only because I had no idea who you were. You can't honestly tell me that you would expect me to tell every drunk stranger I meet in a bar who I am."

"That…" Made an irritating amount of sense. Not that he was going to tell her that any time soon. "That doesn't matter. As long as you're on Elijah's side, we can't be friends."

"As long as you're friends with the Salvatores', I don't wish to be your friend anyway." When Alaric furrowed his eyebrows, she elaborated. "I don't associate myself with those who attempt murder on the people I care about."

"Well, at least we can agree on that."

Tense silence filled the space between the two who hadn't said all they wanted to, but all they really needed to. Neither was sure how to proceed with or end the interaction. Thankfully, the choice was made for them when Elijah appeared at Julien's side. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I believe we've overstayed our welcome."

Julien looked towards her brother to agree, but froze when she saw the small droplets of blood that stained the cuff of his usually pristine white shirt. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist to tug the arm forward, her eyes scanning the blood before lifting to meet his own. Her voice was rough; quiet and dangerous. "What happened?"

"It isn't mine," he answered simply before turning his gaze to Alaric, who had been watching the exchange warily. "You might want to check on your friend, and advise him to keep his distance from now on."

Alaric glanced once more at Julien, whose worried eyes refused to leave Elijah's face, before nodding reluctantly and breaking away to go find out what stupid plan Damon had attempted this time.

Elijah waited until Alaric was out of his sight before turning back to Julien. He adjusted their hands so that it was him holding onto her, guiding her towards the exit. "It's past time for us to be on our way."

"You _are_ going to explain to me what happened while you were with Damon," she told him, her tone harboring no room for argument. Elijah only nodded in assent, which eased Julien enough for her to stop resisting his pull and follow him towards the front door. The two of them nodded at Carol on their way out before stepping outside. The party was far from over, but they had accomplished all they needed to.

* * *

It didn't take long for Elijah to explain everything that had happened inside the study to Julien. Though she wasn't happy that Damon had tried to hurt Elijah, she was practically giddy to learn who the blood staining his cuff belonged to and how it had ended up there.

"It's about damn time that little boy learn a thing or two about messing with a Mikaelson," she had praised her younger brother with an approving nod of her head.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid there are others out there that aren't very happy with the Salvatore brat at the moment," Elijah had sighed, glancing over Julien's shoulder to the sky outside. It was beginning to dim into night, meaning he would have to pay the boarding house a visit soon. "He managed to anger a group of werewolves in town that I've heard have yet to evacuate as I warned them to do."

"That's his problem."

"Which unfortunately makes it my own. I promised Elena that none of her friends would be harmed while she's under my protection."

"A treaty which he has broken at every single opportunity," Julien reminded Elijah fervently. "It is _not_ your responsibility to look after that child. If he didn't want to die, he should have kept his nose where it belonged."

"I agree wholeheartedly."

"Good."

"But that doesn't change the fact that I gave Elena my word," he finished. Julien groaned in response, leaning against the back of the couch they had occupied for the duration of their conversation. "As long as she holds up her end of the deal, I will do the same."

"And where exactly is Elena, hmm?" Julien asked, sitting back up straight. "We haven't seen the doppelganger in a few days now. How do you know she hasn't run for the hills while her friends devise a way to save her?"

"Elena is staying with the younger Salvatore at her parents old summer house on Dunham Lake," he explained away. "I'm not so foolish as to let an asset such as her simply leave without having knowledge of exactly where she's gone." When Julien offered no further argument, Elijah stood from the couch and fixed his jacket. "I won't be gone long, but apparently if I want something done correctly then I must do it myself. Once the dogs are dealt with, I'll return."

Elijah placed a kiss on Julien's forehead before turning on his heel and leaving their temporary home. She waited patiently until his footsteps were no longer audible inside the building before allowing a smirk to grow on her features.

Julien hadn't meant to trick Elijah, exactly. Knowing where the doppelganger was hiding out, however, was certainly an added bonus to her doubts pertaining to his plans. She didn't have an address, but she did know the general location of the girl. Finding her beyond that would be simple.

Standing from the couch, Julien strode towards the door with the confidence that the plan sprouting to fruition in the back of her mind would surely save everyone a bit of heartache.

* * *

By the time Julien made it to Dunham Lake, the light of the moon filtered through the clouds high above her in the sky. She had no idea how long Elijah planned on being gone, but she was also confident that he wouldn't look for her here, giving her plenty of time to carry out her plan.

Julien made her way through the trees circling the lake, following the distinct scent of a burning fire. Two or three other houses dotted the lake, but seeing as it was the middle of winter, only one of them housed any inhabitants. It wasn't until she was standing ten or so feet away from the break in the tree line that a new smell assaulted her senses.

Werewolves.

"Must be a Salvatore thing," she mumbled to herself before continuing forward, this time tactically. If she got the drop on the wolves, they wouldn't stand a chance. A bite wouldn't kill her, but violent hallucinations were pretty low on her list of things she wanted to experience.

The front door to the house was wide open, as was the door to the smaller shed on the house's left. The inside of the house was relatively silent besides some casual footsteps, so she stepped cautiously closer to the shed. Inside she heard hushed voices and pained groaning. Who had been hurt was up in the air until she smelled the blood seeping from the wound – vampire.

Julien tilted her head slightly, listening in on the one-sided conversation.

" _Keep him down. If he moves, kill him."_

Inside the shed, Tyler looked away from Stefan to accept the gun and wooden stake from Brady. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but was stopped by a single look from the older werewolf. Returning his gaze to Stefan on the ground as Brady moved to leave the shed, he nodded his head shakily. "You heard him. Don't move."

"You dogs are such a rude bunch," a new voice chimed in at the entrance to the shed. "It's about time somebody teaches you some proper manners."

Both werewolves looked up to see who had spoken, but they weren't quick enough. Using advantage of the fact that she had the element of surprise, Julien easily snapped Brady's neck before rushing forward and grabbing Tyler's wrist, aiming the gun towards the ceiling before he could pull the trigger. He struggled against her grip, but a newborn werewolf's strength was nothing compared to an Original's.

Julien twisted the boy so that his back was against her chest, keeping him relatively still in a chokehold. She was just about ready to end his life as well before Stefan pushed himself onto his elbows, shaking his head violently as he croaked, "Wait, don't!"

She glanced down at the vampire on the ground, pausing in her actions. "He was going to kill you," she said patronizingly. "But you don't want me to kill him?"

"He's Elena's friend," Stefan explained, trying to talk while also digging around in his chest for the wooden bullet clawing itself closer and closer to his heart.

"Very well," she relented with a click of her tongue. Instead of twisting Tyler's neck, she merely pulled the gun from his hand as he streamed curses at her before using it to knock him unconscious. He joined his friend on the ground, but he would wake up in a few hours while Brady would never see the light of day again.

Stefan finally pried the bullet from his chest with a strangled gasp, hurtling the blasted object towards the wall with hatred. It took a minute for his breathing to return to normal while his body tried to heal itself, but when it finally did he pushed himself onto his feet and stood face-to-face with his savior. Though he had never met her in person, he had heard plenty about the woman from Elena and Damon. "You must be Julien."

"In the flesh," she replied with a smile and mock curtsy. "And you must be the brother of the vampire who plunged a coatrack into my brother's chest."

"Damon was only trying to – wait… your brother?"

Julien tapped the gun loaded with wooden bullets against her thigh, humming thoughtfully before walking towards the shed door as she motioned for Stefan to follow. "I believe it's high time you, Elena and I have a little talk."

Stefan had no choice but to follow after the Original vampire as she sauntered towards the lake house. He saw Elena standing on the porch with a confused expression, and immediately sped up his steps so that he would reach her side before Julien. The Original didn't seem bothered.

"Stefan? What is she doing here?" Elena asked, standing close by his side as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "What happened? I thought I heard gunshots."

"I'll explain later," he promised her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before trailing his knuckles lovingly down her cheek.

Julien rolled her eyes from her place at the bottom of the stairs leading to the open front door, but otherwise remained quiet until after Stefan had quickly ushered Elena inside the house where she wouldn't be able to reach her unless she was invited in. "Are we finished with the displays of affection, or shall I come back later?"

"Why _are_ you here?" Elena ventured to ask, though her bravery was undermined by the fact that she behind an invisible barrier protecting her from the big, bad Original. "We've kept up our deal with Elijah. What else could you want from us?"

"That's a rude way of speaking to the woman who just saved your life," Julien pointed out. When Elena shot Stefan a confused look, he sighed before explaining what had just occurred in the shed.

"One of the werewolves from Jules' pack showed up and shot me before trying to come and get you. Julien showed up and… stopped him."

"For which you are quite welcome, by the way."

Elena's eyes widened significantly as she turned her eyes from Stefan to Julien. "You saved him?" She waited for the woman to nod before sighing gratefully. "Thank you."

Julien merely hummed once more in recognition of her gratitude. "Now, as for your deal with Elijah. There are a few things I think you're unaware of concerning my dear brother that you would be quite interested in learning."

"Your _what_?"

"That's what I said," Stefan chimed in, all the while his gaze never leaving Julien – especially when she stepped onto the bottom of the short staircase leading closer to Elena. He stepped protectively in front of the door, partially obscuring her view of the doppelganger and crossing his arms over his chest. "You said you wanted to talk. You can do that from out here."

Julien stared past Stefan with an unimpressed expression, meeting Elena's thoughtful gaze. "I don't divulge information lightly," she warned. "Especially not to those who are designed to be my enemies. That being said, I believe that if you are willing to sacrifice yourself for my brother – whether those are your intentions or not – then you have earned at least a small part of our story."

Elena pressed her lips tightly together as she engaged in a staring contest with Julien, her thoughts whirring at a million miles an hour. When she remained quiet for a time, Stefan looked over his shoulder to see her face. "You're not seriously considering this?"

Instead of answering him, Elena asked Julien, "You're really Elijah's sister?"

"I am."

"And you're going to help us kill Klaus?"

Julien faltered slightly, though not quite long enough for either of them to notice. "That's the plan."

"Then come in."

Stefan's heart sunk low in his chest while Julien – feeling the familiar weight lifting from her shoulders as she was allowed entrance into the home – moved up the stairs into the house. "Elena – "

"I know what I'm doing, Stefan," the doppelganger insisted with pleading eyes. "Trust me."

Julien waited patiently for Stefan to step aside before she stood silently before Elena. The girl gave her one more contemplative look before gesturing for her to enter the house. Julien did so unhindered, casting a cursory glance around the large living room before seating herself in an arm chair by the dying fire and looking back to the door.

Elena twisted her hands uncomfortably in front of herself as she walked further into the house, Stefan trailing behind her. "Well, you're here," Elena pointed out needlessly. "So. Tell me why you're here."

Julien chuckled at how bold the teenager was before shaking her head. "Not quite yet. I said I would tell _you._ Not your little boyfriend."

"Absolutely not," Stefan interjected, immediately catching on to her meaning. "I'm not leaving you alone with Elena."

"It's okay – "

"No, it's not okay, Elena. I don't care what kind of deal you have with these people. I don't trust them to keep you safe."

"I can handle myself, Stefan," Elena insisted, her voice portraying confidence that Julien couldn't quite make out as true bravery or mere arrogance. "Why don't you go get that firewood we talked about? We'll be fine in here. I don't think Julien would betray Elijah's trust."

Stefan huffed with irritation, looking back and forth between Elena and Julien cautiously, before finally landing on the latter. "If you do anything to hurt her, I swear I will kill you."

Julien didn't bother to point out that he had absolutely no way of accomplishing that task, instead nodding to show that she understood his vague threat. Stefan stared at her for a moment longer in what she was sure he thought was a threatening way before whispering more words of affection to Elena and finally exiting the house.

Once the Original and the doppelganger were left alone, Julien motioned towards the couch to her left. "Please, sit."

Elena did as she was told, sitting on the end of the couch furthest from Julien and crossing her legs as well as her arms so that she sat in what certainly couldn't be a comfortable position. "Okay. I let you in, and we're alone. So what did you come to tell me?"

Julien's fingers toyed with a loose string on the arm of the chair she sat in, observing Elena silently for a few uncomfortable silent moments before speaking quietly. "You know, it truly is remarkable just how exactly alike the Petrova doppelgangers are in appearance. Your personalities couldn't be more different, but your _looks_ … I have seen many things in my life, but the Petrova girls will always astound me."

"What do my looks have to do with your story?"

"You know, I truly believe my brothers are doomed to fight over a Petrova for all eternity. I'm sure another will come after you, and this little war of theirs will start up all over again."

"Brothers? As in plural? If Elijah is one, who's your other brother?"

Julien twisted the green string around her index finger, pulling it out of the chair and discarding it onto the floor as she waited for the girl to figure it out on her own. It took a bit longer than she had expected, but a small gasp from the couch indicated that she had indeed worked it all out.

"Klaus is your brother?"

"Hmm. I guess you're not as stupid as I initially thought you were."

"Wait," Elena groaned slightly, cradling her head in her hands as she furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "So, you, Elijah, and Klaus are a family? That's so… so… why are you and Elijah trying to kill your brother? And what does it have to do with the curse?"

"Those are questions you'll simply have to ponder in your own free time," Julien evaded. "I've come to tell you something very specific, and that is all I will tell you. What you do with the information is completely up to you."

Elena shook her head as she pulled her legs on to the couch, leaning closer to Julien. "You mean you're going to drop a bomb like that on me and not bother to explain it?"

"I could simply leave now and tell you nothing, if that's what you would prefer."

When Julien stood from the chair, Elena hurried off the couch and waved her hands frantically. "No, wait! Don't. Don't leave, I'm sorry. What did you come to tell me?"

Julien waited to make sure that Elena was truly going to comply before returning to the arm chair, casually situation herself once more until she was comfortable. Elena sat quite literally on the edge of her seat, leaning forward as she stared impatiently at the Original.

"From what I've gathered, you're quite protective of your friends," Julien began. Elena nodded, signaling for her to continue. "Which I would assume translates to your family. Though I'm sure you _think_ you would do anything for your family, I can assure you that you haven't the faintest idea what that might entail for someone like me."

As if confirming her theory, Elena shook her head with pinched eyebrows. "I don't understand what you mean."

"What I mean is that when you have seen your family go through hell and back – quite literally in some cases – it can change you. Sometimes not in the most favorable of ways. I have seen my family in the absolute best and worst of all times possible throughout the last thousand years. I would do anything in my power to ensure that they suffer as little as possible at the hands of others. I have maimed, tortured, and murdered more people than you could count for crossing my family. Sometimes for only considering it. Yet here you sit. Because I need you."

"To help you kill Klaus," Elena said with a nod.

Julien shrewdly searched Elena's face, while keeping hers carefully devoice of emotion. Whatever it was she saw in Elena, it was enough to help her decide that she could continue her speech. "I don't want to kill my brother."

Elena blinked, her lips parting slightly though no sound came out. Julien waited patiently for her human brain to catch up to what she had said. Her voice was clearly forced when she spoke again, sounding raspy and a little frightened. "But I thought you were on our side?"

"I never have been, and will never be on _your_ side," Julien clarified. "I have supported Elijah thus far, and consequently you have been aided. However, I have found it quite… _difficult_ to come to terms with killing Niklaus, to say the very least. Despite all he has done, he is still my family – my baby brother, that I have spent a hundred lifetimes trying to protect. It's my understanding that you also have a younger brother. Though it's a very different situation, I think you can gather at least a fraction of my reluctance to harm Niklaus."

"Okay," Elena whispered, drawing the word out into a sigh. She was clearly very confused. "Yeah… I guess I can understand not wanting to hurt your family. But Jeremy isn't a killer. He isn't searching for people to sacrifice to break a curse. It's completely different."

Julien chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip, thrumming her unoccupied fingers against the arm of the couch as she considered how to continue her approach. "I'm not trying to justify his actions. I am only trying to explain to you why I find myself in such a difficult position. It is only because Niklaus has done such terrible things and because it was Elijah who asked that I have even been willing to entertain the thought of stopping him for a fraction of a second."

"Is that all you came to tell me? That you don't want to hurt Klaus?"

"No. I came to warn you, so that you might warn your friends that Elijah is out risking himself to protect at this very moment, while you sit here and pretend that all is right in the world."

Julien stood once more from the chair, moving towards where Elena sat on the couch. She placed her hands on either side of the doppelgangers head, leaning down until the girl's face almost blurred from the close proximity. She could hear the wild beating of Elena's heart, but in a somewhat impressive fashion she managed to keep her face almost completely passive.

"I will not lose Elijah. He will settle his quarrel with Niklaus with whatever means he deems necessary, using whatever and whomever he deems necessary, and though it tears me in half, I will reluctantly allow him that because he believes it to be right and I trust his judgement. But I will. Not. Lose. Him. If you or any of your friends so much as _thinks_ of betraying him, you will have me to deal with, and I can guarantee you that you would sooner pray for death than see my bad side. Is that perfectly clear?"

As Elena had no choice but to meet Julien's smoldering gaze, she couldn't help but think back to the pure terror she had witnessed on Rose's face at the thought that Julien was coming for her. Sitting here now, she felt a fraction of that fear flickering to life in deep in her chest, and she could do nothing but nod at the Original.

Julien remained hovering over Elena for only a moment longer before standing back up. The smile she offered Elena then was almost as frightening as the dead expression she had worn a moment ago. She took the time to pat the doppelganger on the shoulder before stepping around the couch, calling out to her over her shoulder as she exited the lake house.

"I'm glad we had this little chat."

* * *

 **And thus ends another chapter.**

 **I wanted to delve just a little bit into Julien's feelings on the current situation, since I know most of you have been lamenting over the fact that Julien seemed so willing to turn on Klaus. I hope this chapter cleared that up a little bit, and of course as we approach the night of the full moon, we'll see how everything goes down with the ritual.**

 **There was also the reunion of Alaric and Julien – no matter how short-lived. We'll be seeing more of them in the future, but right now is a bit of a critical time for Julien's family life, rather than her social life.**

 **As always, let me know what you thought of the development in this chapter. What did you think of Julien's interactions with John, Alaric, and Elena this chapter? Was anyone OOC? What do you think will happen next?**

 **I have half of the next chapter completed, so it should be up within the next two weeks or so. See you all then!**


	6. The Phone Call

**The Phone Call**

* * *

"You're looking particularly handsome this morning. Going somewhere?"

Elijah spotted Julien's reflection leaning against the doorway to his bedroom in the mirror as he finished fixing the cuff on his suit with a sly smile. "Are you implying that I don't look handsome every other morning?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?"

After checking himself once more in the mirror, Elijah sat on the edge of his bed to slip into his shoes. "Jenna is taking me out to the property commonly believed to be the very first bit of land ever settled in Mystic Falls."

"I see. And it will be just you and Jenna?"

"Of course. I have no reason to lie to you about whom I will be spending the afternoon with, dear sister."

"Mm," she assented with a quiet hum. "And after your little traipse through the woods? What plans do you have with this woman?"

Elijah paused in lacing his shoe to glance up at Julien with a raised brow, a smirk playing on his lips as he contained laughter. "'Lien, are you jealous that I'm spending time with Jenna? Because I assure you – "

"I am not _jealous_ ," Julien interrupted firmly. "I simply don't like the idea of you gallivanting about this treacherous place without me there to watch over you. I wouldn't trust the children around here to look after a goldfish, let alone _you_."

Elijah walked towards his sister with a grin she would have called condescending if anyone else wore it, pressing his palms against her shoulders. "You needn't worry. I'll only be gone for a few hours. While I'm away, why don't you look into spending some time with that boy you were speaking with at the Lockwood house?"

Julien raised an incredulous brow as she looked Elijah over, searching for any hint of sarcasm. "You mean Alaric? Why would I look into that?"

"Because I want you to enjoy yourself," Elijah answered somewhat cryptically. Julien simply thinned her lips in an unconvinced expression, which prompted him to elaborate. "Honestly, 'Lien. I overheard your conversation with the man at the house. Your presence has been absolutely invaluable to me in this endeavor, and I believe it's high time you do a little something for yourself while you're stuck here waiting for everything to come to fruition. You should speak to him."

Julien observed Elijah's sincere expression for another moment before allowing her own to shift into a grateful one, offering him a gracious smile. "That's very thoughtful of you."

Elijah matched her smile with one of his own before patting her shoulder once more and sweeping past her towards the front door. "It also wouldn't hurt to keep him away from Jenna while I'm out with her today."

"I suppose it – oh, you ass!"

The door Elijah had escaped through wearing a wicked grin became the victim of assault by pillow when Julien failed to hit her brother before he closed it. Though his true intentions made her huff with annoyance, she couldn't deny that he was right. It wouldn't be of great surprise to anyone that Alaric would be inclined to keep those close to him as far away from her and Elijah as possible, meaning he would probably try to tail Jenna.

Despite the slight irritation she felt at being tricked, it wasn't as if Julien could complain too much. She had done the same thing to him just the other day in finding out Elena's location so that she could have a talk with the girl. Thankfully she hadn't had to lie about her whereabouts, since she had managed to make it back to the hotel before Elijah and he had no idea that she had even left.

Deciding that anything was better than sitting here and doing nothing, Julien returned to her bedroom to physically and mentally prepare herself for the journey she was about to take.

* * *

Julien strolled through the small town of Mystic Falls with only the smallest sense of familiarity, offering kind smiles to the strangers she shared the sidewalk with. It wasn't exactly a hustle-and-bustle type of city. Instead, the citizens took their time to stop and talk with each other as they leisurely made their way around. It wasn't a pace Julien was all too familiar with, but she was willing enough to go along with it for now.

The Mystic Grill had been a frequent destination of hers since her arrival in Mystic Falls, and today would prove no different. She had been tasked with distracting Alaric, and it was the only place she had even seen him, so it made sense that this should be the first place she looked for him.

Unfortunately, as Julien stepped foot inside the Grill with the gentle tinkle of a bell overhead to signal her arrival, she was disappointed to find that he was nowhere in sight. A small frown formed on her lips at the realization, but seeing as she had no idea where else to look she chose to walk inside regardless – a choice she would quickly come to regret.

"Ah, Julien! Just the Original I wanted to see."

The regrettably noticeable voice grated on Julien's ears and nerves from the first syllable, causing her footsteps to pause. She had been on her way to the bar to order a drink when it came from the booth on her right, soon followed by the man it belonged to standing to follow after her.

"Salvatore," she greeted with a sour smile staining her mouth when the elder of the two brothers presented himself to her with arms spread open as if inviting her for a hug. Rather than accept the gesture, she simply crossed her arms over her chest. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"Oh, don't be like that. I know we got off on the wrong foot, you and I, but I was sincerely hoping that we might move past that. Turn over a new leaf, let bygones be bygones, all that good stuff."

"I'd sooner choke on my own spleen."

Damon clicked his tongue disapprovingly at her refusal before turning his head back in the direction of the booth he had been occupying. "Did you hear that, Andie? I don't think she likes me very much."

A blonde woman Julien vaguely remembered seeing at Carol Lockwood's home the other day appeared at Damon's side, attaching herself to his side like a leech as he wrapped his arm possessively over her shoulders. "That's because she hasn't had the chance to really get to know you like I have."

"I wonder what we could do about that," Damon commented casually, tapping a long finger against his chin in thought.

"Absolutely nothing," Julien answered before Andie had the chance to. "I have exactly no interest in getting to know you – or anyone else in your little Babysitters Club, for that matter."

"Oh, don't be like that. We're all on the same side here! What could it really hurt in the long run?"

"My sanity."

Damon chuckled in response as his eyes drifted over Julien's shoulder. "Well, I know one friend of mine that you wouldn't mind, uh… _getting to know._ Ric, buddy!"

Julien was of two minds when Alaric stepped into her peripheral vision, obviously avoiding eye contact with her and clearing his throat nervously. On the one hand, she had come here to see him in the first place and he was a welcome interruption into her conversation with Damon. On the other, they hadn't parted on the best of terms and she wasn't quite sure how to talk to him. Luckily, she had centuries of experience in dealing with awkward conversations.

"Alaric, you've met Julien, haven't you?" Damon asked teasingly, gesturing between the human and the Original. "I seem to remember the two of you being suspiciously close a few weeks ago. Why, I think it was in this very room that you two met!"

"Damon," Alaric warned lowly, his expression matching his icy tone. " _Enough_."

Though the words did nothing to lessen the infuriating look of smug superiority from Damon's face, they were at least enough to quiet him. He showed this by shrugging nonchalantly before dragging his pinched finger and thumb in front of his closed lips, mimicking zipping them shut. Andie chuckled at his antics, which he responded to with a wink in her direction.

Julien could barely contain the contents of her stomach at the sight. Thankfully, after a somewhat suspicious look was given to Alaric, Damon led Andie back to the booth they had been sitting at before Julien came in.

"I'm sorry if he's been bothering you," Alaric said to Julien, sighing as he scratched the stubble on his cheek. "He really does mean well, even if he's complete shit at showing it."

"I'm sure he means well for someone," Julien allowed. "Most likely himself."

"That's… not completely untrue. But he does care about other people – one of which is Elena. So you can understand why he's a bit wary of you and Elijah."

Julien hummed in response, not quite relenting to his point but not quite denying it either. "You make quite a few excuses for other people, but you refuse to make them for yourself. That much was obvious the night we met. It's… an admirable trait."

Alaric bristled slightly, glancing back at Damon and Andie before taking a step closer to Julien and lowering his voice. "I thought we agreed that we can't be friends?"

"We did," Julien nodded, copying his tone and volume. "And I stand by that agreement. We did not, however, agree that we couldn't be civil towards each other. Of all the people I have met so far in Mystic Falls, you are the one I most desire to remain on good terms with after all this mess."

"That doesn't… Good terms? We can never be on _good terms_ ," Alaric scoffed. "This isn't a mess, this is _Elena's life_ we're talking about. She's my family, and you want to take her from me."

"I won't deny that I have little love for Elena, but that doesn't mean I would wish harm upon her. Believe me when I say that nothing in the world could possibly make me happier than this matter being dealt with without any casualties. That simply isn't likely."

"But it is possible."

Julien shook her head lightly. "I didn't say that."

"You said it isn't _likely_ ," Alaric argued, once again moving closer to Julien. His eyes had widened slightly and his words were the tiniest bit rushed – she could hear his heartbeat pick up in his chest. "So there _is_ a way for it to happen."

"You're jumping to conclusions. All I said was – "

"You choose your words too carefully for that to have been a mistake," Alaric cut in before she could make an excuse, gripping her shoulders and bending at the waist to match her height. "You said that you don't want anyone to get hurt. That's all I want too. If you know a way to save Elena, you have to tell me. _Please_."

Julien met Alaric's gaze for a moment before prying his hands off her shoulders and taking a measured step away from him. "There _may_ be a way to ensure her safety, but that's a discussion for another time and place. We've already been too liberal in our speech here. These aren't the type of matters you discuss in a place like this."

Alaric opened his mouth to argue, but reluctantly closed it before he said a word. He wanted to argue, but knew that she was right. Their hushed conversation had caught more than just Damon's attention, which wasn't good news for either of them.

His acquiescence was met with a small, relieved smile from Julien. "I know that we aren't supposed to be friends," she murmured. "I believe we've both made ourselves quite clear on that matter, when our other companions come into play especially. But I mean what I said about remaining friendly. I have seen the kind of man you are and it inspires nothing short of wonderment on my end. I've lived long enough to know that ignoring that fact would make me a fool. If you believe nothing else I say, believe that."

He couldn't say he trusted either of the Originals with much, but if anything Alaric had learned about Julien up to this point was true it was that she always meant what she said. That wasn't to say that she was always completely truthful, but there was a great difference between lying outright and avoiding the truth.

"What a coincidence running into you two here," a new voice joined in on the conversation, his cool hand pressing against Julien's back as he came into her field of vision. She didn't have to look at him to recognize who it was, but the sight of her brother was always a welcome one.

"Yeah," Alaric replied dryly as Jenna mimicked Elijah by moving to stand at his side. Though his words were directed at Elijah, his eyes remained on Julien as he spoke. "Coincidence. Right."

Elijah offered the history teacher a polite smile and a nod of confirmation, ignoring the sarcasm in his tone. "Jenna and I were just coming in for drinks after our little hike. I see that the two of you decided to skip the middleman and get straight to business."

Julien smirked at her brother, chuckling lightly as she spoke. "It's like the old saying goes, Eli. 'Everybody should believe in something. I believe in having another drink.'"

"How quaint."

"Words to live by, if I've ever heard any," Damon tacked on, having decided to rejoin the conversation with Andie tacked onto his side – which was apparently a constant. "I always was a fan of the big drinkers. Maybe you and I aren't so different after all, Julien."

"If you say so."

Alaric drew the attention of the group to himself by clapping his hands together. "Well, as much as I'd love to continue this, I've got papers to grade."

That seemed to signal to everyone that it was time to go their separate ways, but Andie had a different idea. Just as everyone moved to head for the exit, she took a small step out of Damon's shadow and spoke up. "No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party!"

While Damon complimented Andie on her "fantastic" idea, Julien and Elijah shared a distrustful look unseen by the others present. "I'll be happy to host," Damon continued, raising his hand for effect. "Say tonight, maybe?"

"It's good for me," Andie readily agreed. "Jenna?"

"Uh, I don't know if tonight works," Alaric tried to interject, but was quickly cut off by Jenna saying, "Yeah, actually I am free tonight."

"Perfect," Damon grinned widely before holding his hand out towards the two Originals who had yet to answer. "Tonight sound good?"

Julien pursed her lips tightly together, resisting the strong urge to laugh in his face at even the thought of joining him for what was sure to be an entirely unsatisfactory evening, and allowed Elijah to answer for the both of them.

"It would be our pleasure."

* * *

"It would be our pleasure? Our _pleasure_? Really, Elijah? _That_ was the word you chose to use?"

Elijah kept his eyes plastered on the dark swirling wine in his glass as Julien paced back and forth in front of him, almost definitely wearing a hole in the carpet as she went. It was the only alcohol left in the house after Julien's many, many drinking tangents. The glass was nearly empty now, but he had been too afraid that standing from his place on the couch would only instigate Julien further. As it was she had been on a tangent for nearly twenty minutes and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. "What did you expect me to say, 'Lien?"

"Anything but our pleasure! I don't even want to attend, and now that egotistical maniac is probably strutting about thinking I'm _pleased_ to be attending his little soiree. And that's not even mentioning the fact that the whole thing is _clearly_ some poorly thought out ruse designed to draw us out into a territory they think they can control, which we are blindly walking into like the fools they believe us to be!"

"I think you're forgetting that Jenna will also be in attendance tonight."

"What difference does that make?"

"She is unaware of the existence of vampires. They wouldn't do anything in her presence."

"Clearly you underestimate the stupidity of our host."

Elijah sighed through his nose before setting his glass on the coffee table separating him from his sister and standing to maneuver around it. "We have given our word that we would attend," he tried to reason. "I intend to keep that promise, whether you join me or not."

Julien narrowed her eyes, annoyed at Elijah's infuriating and incredibly convenient sense of nobility. "You're being stubborn."

"I learned from the best," he countered with a casual smile and a peck on her forehead as he passed by her on the way to his room. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find some way to entertain yourself tonight. I also know how long it takes you to get your hair to curl the way you like it and we only have a few hours until we're expected to be at the boarding house, so I suggest you begin preparing yourself now."

"You're hilarious, Elijah," she called after him as he closed the door behind himself. Whether he had been joking or not, Julien contemplated only a moment further before following his lead and heading to her own bedroom to begin preparations for the night.

* * *

The car engine cut off, the doors closed, and all too soon Elijah and Julien were walking arm-in-arm into the lion's den with false positivity plastered on their faces.

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this," Julien hissed between her teeth when Elijah knocked on the front door.

"Everything is going to go swimmingly," Elijah assured her quietly as to keep their conversation between the two of them. "Relax, dear sister. I'll protect you from the big bad vampire."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be the one protecting you?"

"Your big sister instincts must be kicking in."

"You say that as if I ever turned them off."

Elijah chuckled to himself as the door swung open to reveal their host for the evening leaning against the wooden frame with all the arrogance Julien had imagined, and then some. "Good evening, Damon."

"Elijah," he returned with a nod before smirking in Julien's direction. "Smaller, less threatening version of Elijah."

Julien's smile that had previously only been worn for politeness suddenly became much more genuine when she released her hold on Elijah to step over the threshold leading into the house, looking up at Damon with a glimmer in his eyes he didn't register as dangerous until her fingers were on his. To his credit, he only groaned instead of yelling when she bent them back far enough for the resulting _crack_ of his broken bones echoed faintly in the foyer.

"You were right, Eli," Julien said to Elijah over her shoulder as she brushed past the seething Damon Salvatore. "I am glad I came tonight after all."

While Julien sauntered around the corner of the short hallway, following the sounds of idle conversation to find where the rest of the guests had gathered, Elijah remained behind to have a quick word with Damon.

"Julien believes that you may have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to play out," he began, tapping his fingers along the doorway as Damon popped his fingers back into place with a hiss. "I have assured her that due to my deal with Elena you surely wouldn't consider insulting us with such nonsense. Was I wrong to do so?"

"Nope," Damon answered with a shake of his head, flexing his fingers experimentally. "Nothing dishonorable. Just a getting to know you."

"Hmm. Well, that's good, because despite aforementioned deal, if you seek to pose any sort of threat to me or Julien tonight, I will kill you and I will kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

Meanwhile, as the men held a staring contest in the entryway, Julien had made her way to the dining room where she saw that they were being joined by an unexpected dinner guest. "John," she greeted as he stood from his chair at the sight of her. "I wasn't aware you'd be joining us this evening."

"Well, when I heard that you and Elijah were going to be in the area, I couldn't possibly have stayed away."

"Unfortunately," Jenna breathed to herself as she set out the silverware on the other side of the table.

Though John hadn't heard the insult, it caused a small smile to perk up Julien's lips. "It's lovely to see you again, Jenna. Here, let me help you with that."

Before long, everyone had seated themselves around the dining table. Serving bowls and wine bottles were passed about in a mannerly fashion, with all scowls and nasty thoughts courteously kept secret. There were even a few genuine laughs throughout the meal. It was a somewhat pleasant affair when all was said and done – even after all the talk of dead witches and their missing burial grounds.

A topic which was of great interest to Julien. More specifically, the reason for Elijah's curiosity about it. She couldn't just bring it up in front of everyone, of course, so instead she simply chastised him for his poor choice of dinner conversation before tucking the thought away for further inspection later on.

When dinner concluded, Damon dropped his napkin onto his empty plate before clasping his hands together. "Would anyone care for some cognac? I have a bottle I've been saving for ages."

"None for me, thanks," Alaric passed. "Nine bottles of wine is my limit."

Julien scrutinized the look that passed between Damon and Alaric before chiming in. "I'm usually a fan of the sweeter white wines, but who am I to turn down a well-aged brandy?"

There was only the briefest moment of hesitation before Damon stood from his chair that Andie used as her chance to jump into the conversation, laying her hand on Julien's shoulder as she spoke. "Actually, I was thinking that the gentlemen should take their drinks in the study while we girls talk in the kitchen."

"That sounds like a splendid idea," Elijah agreed. The statement earned a deadly glare from his sister, which he ignored in favor of stacking her plate on top of his as he stood from the table. "And I must say, the food was almost as wonderful as the company."

Andie beamed at Elijah, taking the dishes from his hand. "I like you."

"Here you are, gentleman." Jenna dropped her own stack of plates into John's arms with an insincere smile. "Make yourself useful, yeah?"

While John looked none too pleases at being used as a mule for delivering dishes, Alaric was quick to step up and request to be put to work. When Jenna merely glanced in his direction before insisting that she could handle the rest herself, it became clear that his eagerness came not from wanting to do his part with the household chores, but instead for Jenna to acknowledge him.

Julien observed the moment that passed between the two with mild curiosity before stepping in front of Elijah as he tried to follow Damon out of the room. "A word, Elijah?"

Elijah glanced at Damon's retreating frame from over her shoulder before returning his eyes to Julien's. "Lead the way."

The siblings slipped away from the rest of the guests into a secluded hallway, with Julien standing in a position that would allow her to watch and make sure they weren't followed. Although she was reasonably sure their conversation wouldn't be overheard, she still made sure to keep her voice only barely loud enough for Elijah to hear her.

"What's with your sudden interest in witches?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean, 'Lien."

"Don't," Julien scolded, shaking her finger in a way that reminded Elijah of a reprimanding mother speaking to her mischievous child. "Don't do that. After everything I have done for you these last few days, you are not allowed to keep secrets from me anymore."

She was right, of course. He knew that she was right. With a resigned sigh, Elijah admitted as much. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's a bit difficult to switch back and forth between evading everyone else's questions and answering yours plainly."

"You're damned right I'm right, and you better not forget that again anytime soon, or else," Julien warned with a nod. The obviously embellished threat broke any small bit of awkwardness that had formed between the two, bringing a smile to both of their faces. "Now tell me – why are you concerned with where the witches are buried?"

"Not here," Elijah cleverly avoided. Before Julien could argue, he tapped his ear with one hand and the wall with the other. "I promise I'm not keeping any more secrets from you. I'll answer any questions you have when we get home. For now, I'm late for a date with our host."

"Remember what I said earlier, and don't let him do anything foolish. I won't hesitate to rip him to shreds should he so much as breathe too close to you."

"He has promised there will be no games tonight."

"And you believe him?"

"No. But I like to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. Besides, I can handle myself."

"Sometimes I'm not so sure."

Instead of being offended, Elijah took his sister's concern at face value and simply placed his usual kiss to her forehead before sweeping out of the hallway and towards the study. Julien lingered behind for another moment, taking the time for a few deep breaths to regain her composure. The longer this farce of a night went on, the more the nasty dread in her stomach twisted and gave her a sickly feeling.

When she felt at least well enough to walk back to the dining room, she saw Alaric just long enough for him to shove his phone into his pocket and hurry out of the room without so much as sparing her a glance. As it wasn't him she had been looking to speak with in the first place, she simply allowed him to go about his business and continued in the direction of the kitchen.

While everyone else had scattered to the far ends of the house, Jenna had remained in the kitchen, her back towards the entrance and her hands busy in front of her. Julien knocked lightly on the wooden archway as she entered to get her attention. "Care for some assistance?"

"Oh, no," Jenna dismissed with a wave of her hand. "You're a guest, you don't have to do that. I got it."

"Technically, you're a guest as well, since Damon is the supposed host. Which means you shouldn't have to do it either. Yet here you are."

Jenna chuckled, holding her hand up in surrender. "You've got me there. And I am a bit helpless when it comes to baking, so if you could offer any kind of advice it would be very appreciated."

"I'm certainly no expert," Julien admitted as she took Jenna's place in front of the oven, glancing through the window to get a look at the cake inside. "My mother used to bake, but only traditional family recipes. Nothing like what we eat today."

"Well, hopefully some of it translates."

Julien cracked open the oven door and held her hand out towards Jenna with a smile. "Hopefully being the key word. Would you mind finding a piece of straw for me?"

Jenna raised her eyebrows curiously and shrugged her shoulders as he turned to look through cabinets. "I doubt the Salvatores have any straw just laying around, but I could probably find some pasta or something."

"That would work perfectly." Julien waited patiently for Jenna to find a box of uncooked spaghetti and hand her a strand, which she slipped into the middle of the cake. It came back out with a bit of batter clinging to it, so she shut the oven and tossed the pasta in the trash. "It'll need a few more minutes, which means we have a bit of time to gossip."

"Ooh, gossip. I love it. What did you have in mind?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you might tell me about your troubles with Alaric."

Jenna's expression soured quickly and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively as she turned away from Julien. "There isn't anything to talk about. Even if there was, I wouldn't want to ruin the evening."

"Oh, come now, Jenna." Julien stepped closer to the woman, tilting her head to catch Jenna's eye and offer her an encouraging grin. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear about it. Besides, it's a bit obvious. Now, I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert on giving relationship advice, but I'm more than happy to lend a listening ear. I won't force you to talk if you truly don't want to, but I think it might help you."

Jenna tapped her foot quietly against the floor, thinking to herself for a minute before dropping her arms and fidgeting with the box on the counter in front of her. "It's just… I can tell that he's been lying to me about something lately. Maybe multiple somethings. I just can't figure out what."

Julien nodded with understanding, leaning her hip against the counter. "I see. Do you have any theories as to what that might be?"

"No..." Jenna paused, her brows knitting before she continued. "Actually, there is one thing. Something about what John mentioned to me the other day."

"Go on, then."

"John mentioned something about Alaric not being completely truthful about what happened with his wife, Isobel. He told me that she had died and the police never found her body, but John said that isn't the whole story. And when I confront Ric about it, he just goes quiet or changes the subject. I _know_ he's hiding something, but he absolutely _refuses_ to talk to me about it and it's so _infuriating_!"

As Jenna spoke, her voice climbed and her hands began to flail about animatedly. Julien watched and listened until she had finished. When she did, Julien thought over her words before offering her opinion. She thought of the first night she had met Alaric as she spoke, and their time on the bench. She thought of the colors she had seen encompassing his being, and of their significance.

"Alaric is a very unique man. From what I have seen he is very compassionate, loving and open. He cares very deeply for others, and would do anything in his power to make sure that they are protected. But he's also very insecure. He's unsure of his place in this world – whether or not he truly belongs. I couldn't tell you where that stems from, but it's true… Perhaps this has something to do with why he's keeping secrets from you? Perhaps he's afraid that if you were to know the truth, you wouldn't love him anymore."

"But that isn't his call to make," Jenna argued, a frustrated sigh escaping her lips. "I love Ric, but I can't be with somebody who doesn't know how to be honest with me. I can handle a lot of things. I don't need to be babied. I need to know that he trusts me, and that he knows I can take care of myself."

Julien breathed out a short chuckle, moving once more to check on the cake. "You sound like Elijah. He's always been quite independent, even when it wasn't for his own good. I suppose the reason I can sympathize with Alaric is because I often find myself in the position he finds himself in now – trying to find the fine line between protecting our loved ones and keeping them sheltered."

"So how do you deal with it?" Jenna asked as she handed Julien another strand of spaghetti. "How do you know where that line is, and how do you decide what you should and shouldn't hide?"

"I let Elijah decide normally," Julien answered. "I explain the potential consequences, and let him decide if he thinks he should know. Sometimes he wants to, and sometimes he decides it would be best for me to keep certain things to myself. Of course, there are times that I don't give him the option at all. We all have things that are better left unsaid."

"Not if you care about somebody," Jenna disagreed. Julien's almost snapped back that of course she cared about Elijah, but bit her tongue. Though it was irritating, she recognized that Jenna was ignorant of her words.

"Regardless, I believe Alaric will tell you all you need to know when the time is right. Speaking of the right time, the cake is almost – "

Jenna stumbled backwards in surprise of quickly Julien shot up from her crouched position, her words abruptly cut off and her face contorted into a strange expression of worry and confusion. "Julien? Are you okay?"

Her question lingered in the air, unanswered as Julien glanced in her direction. The previously upsetting expression on her face had morphed into rage, which for reasons she couldn't put her finger on disturbed Jenna to her very core. She didn't have the chance to ask anything else, because in the blink of an eye the woman in front of her had disappeared into thin air with nothing but a slight breeze left in her place.

* * *

A symphony of sounds took place in a very short span of time in the dining room, none of them pleasant. It all began with Elijah's scream of surprise when the dagger was plunged through his chair and into his back, which entered with a strange squish that made the wielder cringe. When Alaric pulled the dagger back out, the weapon slick with blood pulled out with a pop. The last sound was Elijah's body thumping against the table.

Everyone in the room was silent. Andie had shot out of her chair and stumbled back against the wall with her hands over her mouth. John dropped his coffee mug on the ground, his hand frozen halfway to his lips. Damon stared wide-eyed at his best and only friend, shocked that he had actually gone alone with the plan. Alaric stared at Elijah's body in front of him, his mind racing to catch up with his actions as he twirled the dagger in his fingers. None of them knew what to say or do next.

Until they heard a ragged gasp, followed by what sounded like a choked sob.

All eyes were immediately on Julien, who stood in archway that separated the hallway from the dining room with her mouth agape and her wide eyes glued to her brother. The shaking began in her hands that balled into fists and traveled up her arms until practically her entire form quivered with an emotion impossible to place from the look on her face.

It seemed like an eternity before anyone in the room moved an inch. When they did, it all seemed to happen at once.

Julien's eyes shifted from Elijah to Alaric – more specifically, the dagger in his hands. Her eyes grew bloodshot as veins distorted her face, an almost inhuman growl forcing its way out from deep in her chest as she leapt forward. Alaric stepped back, his arms shooting up to cover his face. Just as Julien's hands wrapped around his neck, Damon's gripped her shoulders and threw her against a wall. Too quickly for the humans in the room to see, the situation had reversed and it was Julien who had Damon pinned. No words were wasted before she snapped his neck with a sickening crunch and his body collapsed to the floor.

Another scream was heard from the entrance to the room, and though Julien's eyes remained on Damon with the momentary satisfaction his temporary death brought her, Alaric, Andie and John were very aware of Jenna standing there with her fingers tangled in her hair and her chest heaving from her hyperventilation.

With Damon out for the count, Alaric knew that the weapon in his hand was the only hope for anyone else in the house escaping Julien's wrath. He felt the slightest flutter of hesitation in his chest, but that was all the time Julien needed. With her face still distorted into its vampiric state, she looked away from the vampire on the floor and back towards the man who had stabbed her brother.

At a speed that only an Original vampire could possibly manage, Julien abandoned Damon to head back towards the table. Before Alaric even had the chance to raise the dagger, she was gone.

And so was Elijah.

Once again, everyone was left in a stunned silence. Everyone except Jenna, that is.

" _What the hell just happened?"_

* * *

While they were left behind to attempt to calm Jenna down, Julien had thrown Elijah over her shoulder and sprinted the entire way back to their hotel room with him. The door nearly lost its hinges with how roughly she kicked it open before slamming it closed and locking it. She hadn't even bothered to turn on the lights, relying on her superior vision to carry her feet to where she was headed.

Now, she sat in a nearly pitch black bedroom with her back against the headboard of her bed, her legs crossed and her desiccated baby brother's head laying in her lap. Her fingers brushed over his forehead and through his hair with a mother's touch that was lighter than air. Though her features had resorted to normal, her breathing remained ragged and aggressive as she struggled to keep her rationale intact.

She _knew_.

She _knew_ that those good for nothing idiots had been up to no good.

She _knew_ that they were going to hurt _her_ Elijah.

"I warned her," she whispered into the darkness, a deep and disgusted frown plain on her lips. Though he could not hear her just yet, she spoke to Elijah. "I warned that little doppelganger _bitch_ what would happen if she betrayed us – if you were harmed. But she didn't listen. And now she will pay the price."

Julien looked down at Elijah's face, trailing her fingers down his cheek until she cupped his chin. "I'm sorry that I let them hurt you. And I'm sorry that I'm going to ruin your plan."

Shifting him as gently as she could, Julien moved Elijah until he rested on a pillow instead of her thighs. She loosened the tie around his neck and removed the shoes from his feet before pulling a thin blanket over his form and tucking his hair away from his face. She abhorred the gray pallor that stained his handsome face, but placed a kiss to his cheek regardless.

"But I'm not sorry for what I'm about to do. I will _never_ be sorry for what I'm about to do."

She walked to the door and placed her hand on the frame, turning back to look at him once more before she left him there alone.

"I love you, my precious little Eli. I promise that this is going to be the best thing for us, even if you don't realize it yet. I gave you your chance to set things right."

Julien closed the bedroom door as quietly as possible, her footsteps impossible to hear as she crept out of the hotel room. As she walked, her determination swelled and her expression shifted to match it. All of her building fury was contained inside a tiny chest in her head that she knew she would feel later, but for now she had a mission, and she needed to be clear-headed to carry it out.

"Now it's my turn."

* * *

Elena clung to the sides of her seat as Stefan pushed the car to its limits, the momentum pushing her back into the seat. "Stefan, slow down before we both end up in a ditch!"

"We have to get as far away from Dunham Lake as we can," he explained, not slowing down by a single mile. "Since you thought it would be so smart to invite Julien into the lake house, it isn't safe for you there anymore. I'm taking you to a hotel until we can figure something better out."

"I wouldn't have invited her in if I had known you and Damon were planning on trying to murder her brother! Maybe next time you won't keep important secrets from me!"

Stefan opened his mouth to argue further, but all that came out was a sigh. "I know. I'm sorry, you're right. But that doesn't matter now. All that matters is keeping you away from Julien. According to Alaric, she was angry enough to snap Damon's neck in front of Jenna before she left with Elijah."

"Poor Jenna," Elena groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "I never wanted her to know about this. I especially didn't want her to find out in such a brutal way. I feel awful."

"It isn't your fault," Stefan tried to reassure her. All he got in response was a shrug as Elena turned to look out the passenger side window.

Any further conversation was interrupted by the sound of Elena's phone. Both she and Stefan furrowed her eyebrows as she dug it out of her pocket to check the caller ID.

"It's Jeremy," she told Stefan before hitting the green button to answer the call. "Jeremy, I thought you were with Bonnie. What's up?"

" _I did warn you that you wouldn't like my bad side, Elena. Perhaps after I teach you a lesson on what it's like to know that your enemies intend harm towards your little brother, the family you have sworn to protect, you will finally understand that my threats are not to be taken so lightly."_

"No," Elena breathed, worried tears welling up in the corner of her eyes that made her voice scratch against her throat when she spoke. "I had no idea what they were planning, please don't hurt him. I promise we'll never hurt you or Elijah again, just don't touch Jeremy!"

Her only response was the click that signified the end of the call.

* * *

 **And that's where I'm going to have to leave this one! Going just a tad off track from the show here, so I hope you'll enjoy these next few chapters coming up. I just got a new job which is why it took longer than expected to update, but I'm getting acclimated so I should have some more time to write from here on out.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter and that you'll like what's coming up next. Not much to say other than that, so as always let me know if there was anything in this chapter you particularly liked/disliked, and I'll see you all in the next one.**


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